UNITED States ambassador to Nigeria, Terence McCulley is currently in the United States to confer with senior Obama administration officials.
Last weekend, the ambassador met with Under Secretary Maria Otero. Maria Otero was appointed as the Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs on August 10, 2009. Her office coordinates U.S. foreign relations on a variety of global issues, including democracy, human rights, and labor; environment, oceans, health and science; population, refugees, and migration; and combating trafficking in persons. She also serves as the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues.
Although details of discussions between the top administration official and its ambassador was not made public but it will not be unconnected with last minutes preparations for the April general elections and the growing security concerns in Nigeria going by the rampant cases of bomb blast and religious killings across the country.
In early January, President Barack Obama attacked killings in Nigeria and pledged to assist the country.
 Obama said, “The attack near an army barracks in Abuja also reportedly killed more than 20 people and wounded many more. Killing innocent civilians who were simply gathering — like so many people around the world — to celebrate the beginning of a New Year further demonstrates the bankrupt vision of those who carry out these attacks, and we are similarly prepared to offer assistance to the government of Nigeria as it works to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“The United States extends its deepest condolences to the families of those killed and to the wounded in both of these attacks, and we stand with the Nigerian  people at this difficult time.”
Political followers of United States and Nigeria relationship say McCulley’s meeting with Otero is apt because Otero has a very deep understanding of events in Nigeria, having been the most frequent top Obama administration official  to Nigeria in recent times.
Otero was in Nigeria in August 2010 when she and her team followed up on preparations for the April 2011 elections in Nigeria.
In particular, she met with  the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega and his staff to discuss ways for credible and undisputable elections.
That visit which the United States hopes to use to ascertain area where the United States government could assist Nigeria before and during the election was the second to be undertaken by Under Secretary Otero to Nigeria within three months.
During the visit to Nigeria, Otero and her team would also inspect the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices in Nasarawa and as well commission its office in Plateau State.
Terence P. McCulley,  who selected by Obama on June 28, 2010, to serve as ambassador to Nigeria, has now been confirmed by the Senate.
McCulley is a member of the Senior Foreign Service whose diplomatic career has been spent mostly in Africa or working on African issues. A tested US diplomat who has worked on varied diplomatic assignments involving Iraq, Europe and Africa, McCulley is fluent in French, and speaks some Zulu and Wolof. He and his wife have two sons
Prior to his appointment as ambassador to Nigeria, McCulley served as the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark.