South Africa’s official opposition has congratulated Nigeria on the outcome of polls and  Muhammadu Buhari on his election as President.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) believes the election is significant as it is the first time in Nigeria’s history that an opposition party has democratically taken control of the country from the ruling party.

This signals the first democratic transition of government in Nigeria in the last 16 years, Stevens Mokgalapa, DA Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, said. “The DA has long held that the undemocratic installation of any government should not be tolerated by the people of any particular nation,” he said.

He described the conduct of the elections in Nigeria as exemplary. “This (Wednesday’) morning’s announcement is welcome news and the DA hopes that this will be the case for Nigerian general elections to come and that other African nations marred by election irregularities can aspire to make this progress in future.”

This is a good sign of a maturing democracy and we trust that this democratic practice will continue to be further entrenched in Nigeria and throughout the rest of Africa, said Mokgalapa.

Buhari of the opposition All Progressives Congress defeated incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in a fiercely-contested polls.