Come Clean On Travel Ban, APC Tells Atiku

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to come clean “on the nagging issue of his travel ban to the United States of America” following his alleged indictment for corruption in that country.

The challenge came on Sunday as rumours of an alleged “presidential impostor” gathered momentum.

The ruling party accused the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of instigating the ‘silly’ claim.

The rumours took a dangerous hype at the weekend following the reported stabbing of a Nigerian diplomatic attaché recently in Sudan.

Yekini Nabena, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of APC, in a statement, said the PDP was busy entertaining people with what it called “silly conspiracies around the president, and ignoring credibility issues surrounding its candidate”.

He added: “From silly conspiracies on the shape of the President’s ear, a ludicrous allegation of a presidential body double named Jubrin from Sudan, tales on the #NextLevelNigeria campaign and the rested certificate issue, Nigerians have been entertained by the comical displays of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“The ruling party also alleged that the meeting in Dubai hosted by Atiku and attended by leaders of PDP was in fact “a last-ditch effort to raise presidential campaign cash from foreign financiers by mortgaging key national economic assets, particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).”

Nabena said the country could not afford to have a “fugitive occupying the highest office in the country”, alluding to Atiku’s alleged travel ban to the United States.

He said: “Again, a challenge the PDP presidential candidate, Alh. Atiku Abubakar, must take up is coming clean on the nagging issue of his travel ban to the United States of America following his alleged indictment for corruption in that country.

“To borrow the words of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, we must stop electing rogues, hooligans, and criminals into public office.

“Truly, we cannot have a fugitive occupying the highest office in the country. Our great country, Nigeria, deserves better.”

Nabena again restated previous claim that the PDP presidential flag bearer is having difficulty raising funds for his campaign, claiming that PDP governors were not willing to fund the Atiku campaign.

“The unwillingness of PDP governors to financially support the 2019 presidential campaign of Alh. Atiku Abubakar is already public knowledge.

“In fact, information is now rife that the Dubai meeting attended by Atiku and other PDP leaders was a last-ditch effort to raise presidential campaign cash from foreign financiers by mortgaging key national economic assets particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as payback.

“This disturbing development must be checked by relevant agencies particularly the recently established Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the country’s arm of the global financial intelligence Units (FIUs) mandated to collect information on suspicious or unusual financial activity suspected of being money laundering and then share such information with relevant anti-crime or regulatory agencies.

“Backed by their discredited cyber-thugs, the PDP in its desperate bid to remain in public reckoning continues to expose itself as a joke before Nigerians.”

“The PDP should know by now that elections are not won through falsehood on the internet, but by valid votes of the electorate who are aware of who ruined the country and who is clearing the rot.

“It is now clear that we have no credible opposition political party, but a gang of selfish and mercantile politicians that will do anything to return to elective office,” Nabena stated.