US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke on telephone, Tuesday morning with Nigerian President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to emphasise his continued commitment to further strengthening the U.S.-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration.

Blinken noted that the U.S.-Nigeria partnership is built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue to strengthen under President-elect Tinubu’s tenure, a statement seen on the US Department of State website disclosed.

Secretary Blinken and Tinubu further discussed the importance of inclusive leadership that represents all Nigerians, continued comprehensive security cooperation, and reforms to support economic growth, the statement said.

Responding to Blinken, Tinubu said he would hit the ground running, once inaugurated as president and work to deliver institutional reforms and development programmes, to deepen the country’s democratic institutions, a statement from his media aide, Tunde Rahman said.

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Tinubu further pledged to bring help to the poor and vulnerable.

He also spoke about going on exile to the US during the regime of former Nigerian military dictator, Gen Sani Abacha.

During the talks that lasted about 20 minutes, President-elect Tinubu spoke about his long and eventful sojourn in America. He recalled how he was granted asylum by the US when, due to his determined struggle for democracy in Nigeria, he was forced into exile by the late Sani Abacha’s military junta.

Tinubu said the result of the just concluded elections reflected the will of the Nigerian people.