US visa ban proof 2019 poll was rigged in favour of Buhari– Atiku

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23 poll, Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to the United States of America (USA) visa ban on Nigerian politicians whose actions undermined the 2019 general elections.

In a statement on Wednesday, Atiku said the position of the US vindicated his claims that the last presidential election was compromised and rigged in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Atiku, in the statement released by his Special Adviser on Media, Paul Ibe, thanked the USA for “standing with the Nigerian people against those whose desire it is to truncate our democracy.”

The statement read in part, “After the conduct of the February 23, 2019 Nigerian presidential elections, we maintained that the polls were rigged, not credible and that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar won the elections and that his mandate was stolen.

“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.”

US State Department had in a statement by its spokesman, Morgan Ortagus on Tuesday said that it condemns “those whose acts of violence, intimidation, or corruption harmed Nigerians or undermined the democratic process.”

Ortagus had added in that statement that, “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 above statement is a vindication of “our position that the 2019 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.”

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He went further to say, “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.”

Atiku is currently challenging the outcome of the presidential election, which Buhari was declared as the winner, at the Presidential Election Tribunal.

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