Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi says Joe Biden’s presidency may impose sanctions on Nigerian leaders for human rights violations.
He stated this in an interview published by Sunday Punch.
Akinyemi spoke weeks after soldiers shot at peaceful protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20.
The Nigerian Army later said it was at the toll gate on the invitation of Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Akinyemi stated that the Democratic Party has always had as its flagship foreign policy support for democracy and human rights.
Akinyemi recalled how former US President Barack Obama, another Democrat, neither visited nor sold weapons to Nigeria to prosecute the war against Boko Haram because of concerns over rights violations.
He said Joe Biden’s presidency may toe the same path.
Akinyemi added that the 77-year-old may go a step further by freezing the accounts of prominent members of the Nigerian administration, “whether they are in the US or Dubai, UAE”.
Recall that the Muhammadu Buhari administration in April 2018 placed an order for 12 Super Tucano fighter jets from the US.
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“I can see the Biden administration refusing to sell weapons to Nigeria. Don’t forget that we paid for, I think, about 20 air force planes.
“I can see the Biden administration refusing to deliver them. At the end of the day, it is the people who suffer, he said.