Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari congratulates Joe Biden, says democracy is the best form of government

Muhammadu Buhari, 77, was one of the world leaders who congratulated Democratic Party member Joe Biden, 77. The incumbent and 15th president of Nigeria took to Twitter to send his congratulatory message.

On January 20, 2021, Biden and Kamala Harris, 56, will be inaugurated as the 46th president and 49th vice president of the United States, respectively. In the 2020 U.S. presidential election, they defeated their respective Republican opponents Donald Trump, 74, and Mike Pence, 61, who were seeking reelection.

The 2020 U.S. presidential election was held on November 3, 2020 amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It was the country’s the 59th quadrennial presidential election.

Biden is the 47th U.S. vice president. He was in office from January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2017 along with 44th U.S. president Barack Obama, 59.

 

At age 78, Biden will be the oldest man to be inaugurated as the U.S. president. He received more than 74 million votes, making him the elected president with the most votes in U.S. history.

Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent, is making history, as well. She is the first female, first Asian, first black and first Caribbean U.S. vice president.

From January 3, 2011 to January 3, 2017, Harris served as the attorney general of California, USA. She assumed office as U.S. senator from California on January 3, 2017, making her the first South Asian American and the second African American woman to serve in the U.S. senate.

 

Buhari was born to Fulani parents Mallam Hardo Adamu and Zulaihat Buhari in Daura, Katsina State, Nigeria on December 17, 1942. Muhammadu is the 23rd child of Adamu, who died in 1946.

From 1961 to 1985, Muhammadu served in the Nigerian Army. He served as the governor of Borno State, Nigeria from February 3, 1976 to March 15, 1976 and became the federal minister of petroleum resources on November 11, 2015.

Muhammadu first served as the president of Nigeria from December 31, 1983 to August 27, 1985. He held the position again on May 19, 2015.

The incumbent president of Nigeria was married to Safinatu Yusuf from 1971 to 1988. He married Aisha Halilu Buhari in December 1989.