Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar Wednesday took
a swipe at former President Olusegun Obasanjo, noting that his
former boss lied that he risked jail if he travels to the United States of
America, USA.
In a statement
Wednesday by his media adviser,Garba Shehu, Atiku Abubakar who noted that Obasanjo’s
statements in an EFCC magazine, “Zero Tolerance, “were not true, said, “The
former President is wrong. It is widely known that Atiku didn’t enter government broke.
He declared his
assets at the commencement of his Vice Presidency and
did so at the end of his term as required by the constitution,
which is a sacred document to Atiku.
“Atiku, who is
currently returning from China after leading a private economic trade mission at the invitation of
the Chinese government, travels often and has a well-documented record of
building industries and putting thousands of Nigerians to work. And this
record, quite frankly, has been thoroughly investigated.”
Garba who
noted that Atiku has no case against him by any arm of the law in
any country in the world, including the United States, said, “President
Obasanjo’s repeated ‘jokes’ about Turaki not being able to go to America have
become cliché, tiresome and not true.”
The Media Adviser
recalled that in 2006, former President Obasanjo sent his National Security
Adviser (NSA) to stop Atiku from travelling to the US, saying that the Vice
President risked arreston arrival. He said that
Turaki spurned that advice, left Nigeria to land at the Andrews Air Force Base,
the official airport of the US government, to receive the best reception ever on a visit to America.
“So, we are used
to those taunts,” he said.He noted that when the former Vice President left
office shortly before late Musa Yar’Adua was inaugurated as President, Atiku
spent three months in the US, adding that if they (US authorities) wanted him for
anything, they would have met him, adding, “It is time to start dealing in
facts. Specifically, the fact that Atiku’s visa to visit the United States has
been recently renewed.
“Another fact is
Atiku is one of the most investigated politicians in Nigerian history. And
every investigation, whether politically motivated here at home or by the FBI
abroad, has yielded the same result every time: not guilty.
“If Atiku is
guilty of anything, it is crushing persistent attempts at re-writing
our constitution.
“Atiku has chosen
the path of optimism and hope. Moving forward, he will continue working to
fuel Nigeria’s economy through investment and job creation, while also passionately
and persistently defending our young democracy.”
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