What Atiku said about US travel ban on Nigerian politicians

Former Vice President and Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Wednesday said the travel ban placed by the United States on some political players in the country validates claim the elections were rigged.

Speaking on the ban, the US State Department in a statement by its spokesman, Morgan Ortagus on Tuesday, July 23, 2019, said: “We condemn those whose acts of violence, intimidation, or corruption harmed Nigerians or undermined the democratic process.

According to Ortagus, “the Secretary of State is imposing visa restrictions on Nigerians believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Nigeria. These individuals have operated with impunity at the expense of the Nigerian people and undermined democratic principles and human rights.” In a statement signed by his media aide, Paul Ibe, Atiku said “The above statement is a vindication of our position that the 2019 elections were undermined by the actions of state actors and institutions.” He stressed that after “daylight robbery that occurred on election day, President Muhammadu Buhari and its allies went into a propaganda overdrive to deny the obvious,” noting that “no matter how far and fast falsehood, or in this case, rigging, has traveled, it must eventually be overtaken by truth. “It seems that day has come. After many months of living in denial, the Buhari regime is now faced with the truth in the form of a US visa ban on politicians who undermined Nigeria’s democracy.” He commended the United States of America for standing with the Nigerian people against those whose desire it is to truncate the country’s democracy.

“Finally, we urge the Nigerian people not to despair. There is hope on the horizon. There is light at the end of the tunnel. The myriad of security, economic and social challenges Nigeria currently faces, which has resulted in our nation becoming the world headquarters for extreme poverty will, God wiling, soon be over, with the prospect of purposeful and result oriented leadership,” he added