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Atiku speaks on reports he, members of his family being under US watch list

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A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has reacted to reports claiming that he and some of his family members were under the watchlist of the United States.

Reports circulated on some media platforms on Monday had claimed the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an agency of the US Department of Treasury, in its surveillance of money movements within the international system, flagged some transactions linked to Atiku and some of his family members as suspicious.

However, responding to the claim in a statement on Tuesday through his media aide, Paul Ibe, Atiku denied the report.

The statement read, “My attention has been drawn to recycled and regurgitated lies about the person of Atiku Abubakar.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Atiku Abubakar is not under any US watch list, neither has he been charged, or will ever be charged by the United States Justice Department or any other in a foreign jurisdiction.

READ ALSO: US WATCH LIST: No policy in Nigeria promotes one religion against another —Presidency

“It will be recalled that these recycled lies were re-unearthed just before the February 23, 2019 Presidential election, and to put paid to them, His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, applied for and received a US visa, whereupon he embarked on a visit to the United States on January 17, 2019. He stayed at a hotel just miles to the United States Department of Justice.

“Atiku Abubakar in the course of that trip was also received in audience by officials of the United States Government.

“These ‘new’ reports are a desperate gambit to recast these discredited accusations. They are meant to divert the attention of Nigerians from the recent statement by the Secretary of State of the United States, Mr Mike Pompeo, announcing visa and travel bans for certain unnamed but notorious individuals.”

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