Obasanjo Lobbying US Authorities To Withdraw Atiku’s US Entry Ban – APC

The All Progressives Congress says it has
reports that former President Olusegun Obasanjo
is making moves to secure United States entry
visa for Atiku Abubakar, the 2019 presidential
candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Yekini Nabena, the APC Acting National Publicity
Secretary, made the allegation in a statement on
Friday in Abuja.
“We have come across credible reports that
former President Olusegun Obasanjo has made
moves to secure United States entry visa for the
presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar,” Nabena said.
The APC spokesman added that the former
president was also lobbying the US authorities to
withdraw the ban reportedly placed on Abubakar
from entering the US.
He recalled that the entry ban was placed on
Abubakar following a $500,000 bribery scandal
in 2005 that involved the PDP candidate; his
fourth wife, Jennifer; and former United States
Congressman, William Jefferson.
Obasanjo had on Thursday endorsed Abubakar,
who was the Vice President when he was in
office, to replace Muhammadu Buhari of the All
Progressives Congress as president in the 2019
election.
Nabena, however, stressed that Obasanjo’s
intervention in Abubakar’s ban from the United
States of America was evidence of “his
legendary hypocrisy and self-serving interest in
national affairs”.
He noted that Obasanjo during and after leaving
office had always insisted on Abubakar’s
unsuitability to govern Nigeria based on his
knowledge of his extensive corrupt practices
while he served as Vice President.
He said: “Recall that the former president while
in office had deployed enormous resources of
the country on a global dragnet coordinated by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) in getting Atiku prosecuted for corrupt
enrichment and money laundering.
“A report by the U.S Senate Permanent
Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by
Senator Carl Levin reported that Atiku used
offshore companies to siphon millions of dollars
to his fourth wife in the United States, Jennifer.”
This, Nabena said, happened while Abubakar was
still the Vice President of Nigeria between 2000
and 2008.
He added that it was on the strength of the
report that President George Bush barred
Abubakar and other corrupt politically exposed
persons from being issued visa to the United
States.
This, the APC spokesman said, was the reason
Abubakar had not been able to travel to the
United States till date.