Zelensky Has Come Under Fire For Congratulating The New President Of Nigeria

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, has drawn criticism for congratulating Bola Tinubu, the winner of Nigeria's 2023 presidential election, on his victory last Saturday.

Zelensky had expressed his country's readiness to collaborate with Nigeria to address global concerns, particularly risks to food security, in a post sent via his Twitter account on Thursday while thanking Tinubu.

"Congratulations @officialABAT on your success in the election for President of Nigeria," he tweeted. I anticipate close collaboration. The two-way interplay between and will intensify, in my opinion. Ukraine is committed to collaborating with other nations to address global concerns, such as those affecting food security!

Zelensky's tweet of congratulations to Tinubu, however, was ridiculed by some Twitter users, primarily Nigerians, while the Ukrainian president was backed by others.

Here are some tweets compiled from Twitter:

@obanojnr, "Nigerians are currently experiencing grief; don't add to it. Congratulating a person who rigged the election is unacceptable since many Nigerians were hurt or killed during that election. CONGRATS TO RUSSIA FOR THIS, I say.

@OdinKinetic, “Congratulations to Putin and the Russian Federation. We the citizens of Nigeria stand with you and God will always protect the people of Russia.”
@IjeleMela, “Corrupt people always know how to align with one another. This guy is probably very corrupt.”

@WeriseB, “May Putin never leave Ukraine!! Amen!”

@TheOliviaMead, “You will not get any money from Nigeria! Get out!”

“Our democracy was invaded and you are 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 shortly. We know when you won your presidential election, it was the will of Ukrainians that voted for you and voted out the 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.”

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