A top campaign offical of the Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCO) has disclosed that the reports surrounding issuance of American visa to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar did not emanate from the former vice president.
The source, a former Minister under the President Jonathan administration, said Atiku never told anyone about getting a US visa, Vanguard reported.
A news report, quoting a member of Atiku’s family, had over the weekend said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate obtained a US visa with the help of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Atiku was reported to have jetted out of Nigeria to spend some time in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States.
However, the Waziri of Adamawa surprised many when he appeared in Sokoto for the kick-off of his 2019 presidential campaign rally in Sokoto on Monday.
The campaign official said Atiku was not one to celebrate issuance of visa, noting that the ex-vice president already enjoyed visa to many countries of the world.
He said, “What is so important about a visa? And let me say that Atiku Abubakar did not issue any statement informing anybody that he had been issued a U.S visa and that he had planned to travel to that country to the best of those working with him.
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“We just do not know where the media got that information and immediately began to spread all over the space on Sunday until it got to our attention. It is not true that the presidential candidate ever gave such information to anyone.”
He further described as a lie the insinuation that Atiku was afraid of setting foot on US soil to avoid arrest for corruption.
The campaign official noted that the American government would have raised issues against Atiku if it had anything against him.
“Don’t forget that Atiku had been living in Washington and if there was anything against him, the U.S law enforcement agents would have charged him before now. So, there is no case against him in the U.S and that is the truth,” he stressed.