The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has commended the United States for placing travel ban on certain category of Nigerians for undermining democracy.
Atiku said the position of the US has confirmed his claims that the 2019 presidential election was rigged in favour of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement Wednesday by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, the PDP candidate insisted that he won the 2019 presidential election, but that his mandate was “stolen” by the APC.
The statement said, “In the aftermath of the daylight robbery that occurred on Election Day, the regime of General Muhammadu Buhari and its allies went into a propaganda overdrive to deny the obvious.
“However, it is a truism 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”.
Speaking on the ban, the US State Department in a statement Tuesday by its spokesman, Morgan Ortagus, stated among others that, “We condemn those whose acts of violence, intimidation, or corruption harmed Nigerians or undermined the democratic process”.
Speaking further, Ortagus said, “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”.
According to Atiku, the position of the US on the 2019 general elections was a confirmation of his sustained campaign that the elections were undermined by the actions of state actors and institutions.
“We also wish to thank the United States of America for standing with the Nigerian people against those whose desire it is to truncate our 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 willing, soon be over, with the prospect of purposeful and result-oriented leadership”, the statement added.
