After Zelensky, UAE President, PM send congratulatory message to Tinubu

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the President and Prime Minister (PM) respectively of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Saturday congratulated Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on his victory in last Saturday’s Nigerian presidential election.

POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the world leaders’ message came 48 hours after Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated the president-elect of Nigeria and said he looks forward to a close cooperation.

Zelenskyy’s message to Tinubu via Twitter had elicited criticism from several Twitter users.

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It also brought forth a counter-congratulation, as internet users perceived to be mostly supporters of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, sarcastically wished Zelensky’s nemesis, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, good luck.

A message conveyed by the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, Fahad Al Taffaq, expressed the Middle East’s country’s readiness to cooperate with Tinubu, who is expected to be sworn in as Nigeria’s next leader in May.

“HH @MohamedBinZayed and @HHShkMohd congratulated President-Elect @officialABAT on winning the General Elections in Nigeria. We look forward to working together to advance the #UAE and #Nigeria cordial relations,” the statement reads.

This newspaper reports that the February 25 Nigerian presidential election was not without irregularities. The alleged malfeasances by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in collusion with some corrupt politicians caused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, second and third respectively in the poll, to head to court.

Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom (UK) and France have also congratulated Tinubu on his latest achievement.