Femi Adesina, Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, says there was never a time the President was forbidden from entering the United States of America as alleged by Abubakar Atiku, former Vice President.
Atiku, who recently decamped from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was asked during a recent interview why he had avoided the US over the years but he replied that even Buhari could not go to the US until he became President.
“For about 15 years, Buhari could not enter America on account of religious considerations,” Atiku said, adding that should he become Nigeria’s President, he would be able to visit the US regularly the way Buhari now does.
But Adesina released a statement on Saturday evening countering Atiku’s narrative.
“This fictive concoction being passed off as truth is mind boggling, coming from a former Number Two man of Nigeria, who should know the truth,” Adesina stated.
“At no time was President Buhari, as a private person, ever forbidden from entering any country in the world.
“Rather, the rest of the world has always held Muhammadu Buhari as a man of sterling qualities, strong on integrity, transparency and accountability. The same testimony is still borne of the Nigerian President by many world leaders today.
“It is curious that former VP Abubakar had been asked why he had not visited America for over a decade, something that had been a stubborn fact dogging his footsteps.
“Instead of answering directly, he begged the question, saying Buhari also had been disallowed from entering the same country for 15 years, before becoming President.
“We hereby make it resoundingly clear that what the former Vice President said only exists in the realm of his imagination. If he has issues to settle with American authorities, he should do so, rather than clutch at a straw.”
Atiku was allegedly involved in at least one contract fraud in the US for which William Jefferson, an American Congressman was found guilty and jailed in 2009.
Jefferson had acted as a middleman in the deal, using his political connection to top Nigerian officials to get a broadband contract for iGate, a company linked to his immediate family members.
A sum of $100,000, which US federal agents found in Jefferson’s apartment during a raid, was allegedly given to him by Atiku.