Ex VP Atiku Abubakar
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.
This is the reaction of Abubakar to the visa restriction for 2019 election riggers in Nigeria announced by the United States department on Tuesday.
Speaking on the ban, the US State Department in a statement by its spokesman, Morgan Ortagus on Tuesday, July 23, 2019, stated that “we condemn those whose acts of violence, intimidation, or corruption harmed Nigerians or undermined the democratic process.”
“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”.
Abubakar 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,”
According to his Media Adviser, Mr Paul Ibe, “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.
“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.
He urged 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 wiling, soon be over, with the prospect of purposeful and result oriented leadership,” Ibe said.
