Politics
APC explains presence of foreign govs at Buhari’s rally
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that there was nothing wrong for ECOWAS citizens who are free to enter Nigeria without visa to attend President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign rally.
A director of APC Presidential Campaign Council and former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, stated this while answering questions from journalists at a train- the-trainer programme of the Field Operations Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council.
The appearance of two Niger Republic governors at President Buhari’s campaign rally has been frowned at by the opposition People Democratic Party (PDP), and some other Nigerians. They have argued that their coming was part of APC’s plot to bring in mercenaries from Nigeria’s neighboring country to allegedly rig the coming Presidential election for Buhari.
But responding on the matter, Ribadu said the foreigners were constitutionally allowed to enter Nigeria unhindered.
He said, “For your information, it is a free world and it is the constitutional right of everyone to be where he wants to be. You have no right to curtail anybody from doing what he wants to do. People from West Africa are free to move into Nigeria. We have a protocol or agreement that they don’t need a visa to come into this country.
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“I know for sure that they don’t have the vote but as a free West African who believes that someone has done extremely very well, and decided to identify himself with what he believes in, I don’t think there is anything wrong and I don’t think there is any crime committed. You cannot and you have no right as a Nigerian to stop them from exercising their fundamental right to identify with his friends.
“Their presence may or may not have any impact on the re-election but they are entitled to it. We have to guarantee their freedom because their presence is within the law and we don’t have right to stop them.”
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