Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, has invited Nigeria’s President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to his country on a state visit.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the former Lagos governor winner of the presidential election.
Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to win the presidential election while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 6,984,520 votes, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) was next with 6,101,533 votes.
However, the Ukraine leader, in a congratulatory letter he personally signed, expressed his gladness at the peaceful conduct of Nigeria’s just-concluded general elections, and particularly praised the victory of Asiwaju Tinubu as the next President of Nigeria.
He added that his country is determined to further strengthen cooperation with Nigeria.
The statement partly reads: “Please accept my sincere congratulations on your election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Despite extremely difficult testing times, caused by the full-scale armed aggression of Russia against our state, Ukraine is determined to further strengthen cooperation with Nigeria at the bilateral level and within the framework of international organizations.
“We are grateful for your country’s support of the Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization “Principles of the UN Charter underlying a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in Ukraine.
“I count on the active participation of Nigeria in its practical implementation. We see the further provision of global food security, of which Ukraine was and remains a reliable guarantor at the global level, as an important direction of cooperation.
“The fulfillment of this task will be facilitated by the successful implementation of the Ukrainian initiative “Grain from Ukraine”, which is designed to significantly increase the supply of grain to African countries in order to prevent famine.
“Taking this opportunity, I invite you to pay an official visit to Ukraine at a time convenient for you.
“I am confident that your visit will strengthen the dialogue between our countries and contribute to further consolidation of joint efforts of the international community aimed at solving the urgent challenges of today, in particular the crisis situation caused by Russia regarding these guarantees of world food security.”