Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday called on political and religious leaders to condemn deadly post-election rioting that broke out as results showed he won elections.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meanwhile congratulated Jonathan for winning the election, saying it marked a "positive new beginning" for the nation.
"I applaud the people of Nigeria for their enthusiastic and orderly participation" in the April 16 polls, Clinton said in a statement released by the State Department.
But Jonathan's immediate focus was on the areas where violence had taken place.
"We use this opportunity to plead with all our political leaders and religious leaders to condemn the acts so that our country will witness development instead of destruction," Jonathan said as he visited the electoral commission to collect his certificate indicating he won Saturday's vote.
He also said most of the rioters appeared to be "unemployed young people" and that the government would work to change their situation "so that they will no longer be tools for people to use."
No death toll
Fearing reprisals, authorities have not provided a death toll for the riots that spread across the mainly Muslim north.
Sporadic rioting broke out over the weekend over allegations of vote rigging before spreading quickly to some 14 states on Monday.
Some 15,000 people have been displaced and more than 360 wounded, according to the Red Cross.
Jonathan, from the southern oil-producing Niger Delta region, was declared the winner of the elections Monday night, comfortably defeating his northern rival, ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari has not spoken publicly since the results, though he condemned the violence in brief comments to the BBC's Hausa-language service.
US pleased with progress
Clinton said the poll "marks a dramatic shift from decades of failed elections,"but conceded it was "far from perfect."
The top US diplomat called on Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission "to transparently review and take appropriate and transparent action on all allegations of "under-age" voters, violence and intimidation, ballot stuffing, and inordinately high turnout in some areas of the country."
The United States, she added, "congratulates President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on his election and wishes him well in meeting the many challenges facing Nigeria".
The election "represents a positive new beginning for Nigeria," she added.
US State Department spokesman Mark Toner earlier condemned the post-vote violence and called on all Nigerians "to respect the results... and channel any grievances and challenges peacefully
through established administrative and legal redress."
He said, however, that the election also "sets Nigeria on a course towards solidifying and improving its democracy through strong governance and transparent institutions".
An estimated 25,000 have been displaced and some 375 wounded, according to the Red Cross. Police said dozens of people had been arrested.
Nigeria is roughly divided in half between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.
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