2019: U.S Finally Endorses Atiku Presidency?

Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s visit to the United States on Thursday has started generating a lot of buzz as to whether or not the U.S has endorsed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate for Nigeria’s Presidency in 2019.

Atiku’s visit to the U.S came months after the President Muhammadu Buhari government warned that granting the former Vice President visa to the country would amount to the U.S government endorsing him for Presidency in 2019.

Advertisement

The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had said the U.S government would be passing a message that it had endorsed Atiku by allowing him entry to the country.

But the Director-General of the Atiku Campaign and President of the Senate,
Dr Bukola Saraki, had in reaction to the reservation expressed by the Minister said, “I think it was a panic action by the government. How does granting somebody visa a way to endorsement, it’s more like a panic action because government is panicking.

“They should allow the normal process to go. But again as I said, that is a panic reaction of a government that is scared and is worried that it is about to lose election and is trying to see how they can hustle around and that is otherwise, a desperate act to go along those issue,” Saraki had said.

Meanwhile, when reports of the PDP presidential candidate’s U.S visit filtered in yesterday evening, some Nigerians doubted credibility of the news.

Advertisement

They were skeptical owing to previous reports and narrative that the former Vice President could not visit the United States because was allegedly wanted by authorities in the country over his involvement in the Williams Jefferson corruption scandal.

But barely two hours after the reports filtered in, the skepticism was laid to rest as the PDP presidential candidate tweeted at exactly 8:26 p.m yesterday that he had arrived Washington D.C. to hold meetings with government officials in the country.

The tweet was accompanied with a photo of the arrival of the PDP presidential candidate and the Director-General of his campaign organization in Washington D.C.

“Just arrived Washington D.C for meeting with US government officials, Nigerians living in D.C metropolis and the business community,” Atiku said in the tweet that has since gained over 6,000 retweets and 11,000 likes.

The tweet also fuelled speculations among Nigerians as to if the President Donald Trump-led U.S government had endorsed the PDP presidential candidate to run against President Buhari in the February 19 presidential election.

Advertisement

THE WHISTLER recalls that the supposed endorsement of President Buhari by former U.S President Barack Obama in 2015 was said to have helped the Nigerian president defeat former President Goodluck Jonathan at the time.

All fingers are now crossed to see what Atiku’s visit to the U.S after 12 years of his alleged ban from the country would do for his presidential ambition.

Leave a comment

Advertisement