Following
corruption charges made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the Economic
and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) magazine “Zero Tolerance” that the former
vice president risked jail if he travelled to the United States, the media adviser
to former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, Garba Shehu on Wednesday issued a statement in Abuja, debunking Obasanjo’s claim on Atiku,
“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,” Garba Shehu said
According
to him, “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.”
While
reiterating that Atiku has no case against him by any arm of the law in any
country in the world, including the United States, Shehu observed that
“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 arrest on 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 the late Musa
Yar’Adua was inaugurated as president, Atiku spent three month in the US,
adding that if they (US authorities) wanted him for anything, they would have
met him.
“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,” Shehu said.
