What first president to congratulate Buhari said

China on Wednesday congratulated Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election as President of Nigeria.

Nigeria is China’s strategic partner of cooperation in Africa Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a daily news conference in Beijing.

“China always attaches high importance to bilateral ties and stands ready to work with the new Nigerian government to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields and bring more benefits to the two peoples,” Lu said.

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission announced early Wednesday that incumbent Buhari, also the candidate of the governing All Progressives Congress party, topped the poll with 55.6 per cent of the total valid votes in the presidential election.

The Asian giant was the first to have reportedly call Buhari since he was declared winner early Wednesday.