US sees new start with Nigeria
2007-12-12 19:12
Lagos - The United States sees a new start in relations with Nigeria with a visit to Washington on Thursday by President Umaru Yar'Adua after a diplomatic pause following a "deeply flawed" election, a senior US official said.
Yar'Adua leaves Nigeria on Wednesday for his first meeting with US President George W. Bush after winning the April election, which was deemed "not credible" by international observers because of widespread violence and fraud.
"We think that this represents the beginning of our new relationship, which will signal closer relations," Todd Moss, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs told the State Department website.
The April vote was billed as a landmark for Africa's top oil producer, marking the first transition from one civilian president to another since it won independence from Britain in 1960.
But ballot-stuffing, intimidation and violence were so widespread that international and local observers said the results were not credible.
Bush invited Yar'Adua to the White House after the Nigerian leader agreed to address concerns raised by Washington over the election, Moss said.
These include electoral reform, non-interference with the tribunals handling election petitions, stepping up the fight against corruption, security in the oil-producing Niger Delta and free-market economic reforms.
"We expressed our concerns ... and we set some very clear expectations. I am happy to say that, so far, those expectations have been met," Moss said.
Hundreds of election results, from the president down to state legislators, are being contested in special courts. They have overturned four governorship results, including that of Yar'Adua's son-in-law, and those of several state and federal legislators.
Moss said Yar'Adua had been inclusive in forming his government and this had helped strengthen his legitimacy.
The court is expected to deliver judgment on two petitions against Yar'Adua's victory early next year. The president has said he will accept whatever the outcome is.
Nigeria is the world's eighth largest oil exporter and fifth biggest supplier to the US, but militant attacks have cut exports by a fifth.
Moss said energy security was one issue to be discussed, but there were several other areas of mutual importance.
The two leaders are also expected to talk about getting peacekeepers on the ground in Sudan and Somalia, Moss said.