President Zelensky comes under fire for congratulating Tinubu

President of war-prone Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has come under fire after he congratulated Nigeria’s President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential election.

Some Twitter users, mostly Nigerians, trolled the the Ukrainian President over his congratulatory tweet to Tinubu.

In a tweet on Thursday, Zelensky, while congratulating Tinubu, had said his country was ready to work with Nigeria to overcome global challenges including threats to food security.

His tweet reads, “Congratulations to @officialABAT on winning the Nigerian presidential election. I look forward to close cooperation. I’m convinced that bilateral interaction will be strengthened. (Ukraine) is ready to work together to overcome global challenges, including threats to food security!”

However, some tweeps who made comments on the post alleged that Zelensky was congratulating Tinubu after “our democracy was invaded.”

“Our democracy was invaded and you’re congratulating the man … on behalf of Ukrainians,” @aai_austin claimed in reply.

@valentinowpg said, “Mr. President you may have to do this congratulation once again in the nearest future. We know when you won your presidential election it was the will of Ukrainians that voted for you and voted out pro-Russian govt. Ours wasn’t the will of the people. Good luck in the war.”

“It is now obvious that Zelensky has not learnt enough lessons,” @Chief_Ajiji partly said.

@gaiuschibueze said, “No wonder Russia wants to run over your country.”

Meanwhile, a former Delta State governorship aspirant under the All Progressives Congress, Uba Michael, in his reply, said, “The people of Nigeria stand with you (Zelensky).”

Most of the tweeps alleged that the February 25, 2023 elections were marred with rigging and voter intimidation, saying Zelensky did not know that.

The tweeps’ positions were in tandem with the position of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party members, who had since alleged that the conduct of the election was not free and fair.

Recall that the two opposition parties rejected the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission that Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress won the presidential election, asking the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, to step down.

INEC on March 1, had declared that Tinubu won the elections after polling 8.8 million votes, while main opposition candidates Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the PDP and LP had 6.9 million and 6.1 million, respectively.

In its response, the APC told the aggrieved parties to approach the court of law to seek a redress if they had a case on the outcome of the elections.