Nigerian presidential candidate
Atiku Abubakar visited Washington two weeks ago following a temporary
suspension of a travel ban linked to decade-old bribery scandals, Reuters
reported yesterday quoting people familiar with the matter.
The U.S. administration has not
commented on Atiku’s status or his travel, but several U.S. diplomats and
others familiar with the visit told Reuters the former vice president has been
banned from entering the United States for the past several years after he
figured prominently in two corruption cases.
For Atiku’s supporters, that he
was able to visit Washington on Jan. 17 and 18 without being arrested was proof
that the allegations were baseless.
“It is fake news, and we showed
that,” said Harold Molokwu, who heads the U.S. chapter of Atiku’s People’s
Democratic Party of Nigeria.
Several U.S. government officials
said the travel ban was waived temporarily by the U.S. State Department after
lobbyists mounted a campaign among congressional lawmakers arguing that the
administration should not snub the leading challenger to Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari in the Feb. 16 election.
One person familiar with the
matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Atiku was allowed to enter
because the United States saw little benefit to creating bad blood with the man
who might be the next leader of Africa’s most populous nation and the
continent’s biggest oil producer.
Lobbyists hired by Atiku said
they sought to overcome resistance at the State Department by securing support
from members of Congress for the visit, as well as arguing that the top U.S.
official for African affairs, Assistant Secretary Tibor Nagy, had an obligation
to encourage democracy in the seventh most populous country in the world.
“Assistant Secretary Nagy was
pleased to meet with him and share the U.S. government’s expectations that
Nigeria’s elections be free, fair, transparent, and peaceful, and reflect the
will of the Nigerian people,” a State Department official said, stressing the
department had not requested the waiver.
Atiku’s visa troubles stem from
when he served as Nigeria’s vice president, from 1999 to 2007,.
He figured prominently in the
corruption trial of former U.S. Representative William Jefferson, who was
accused of trying to bribe Atiku in an effort to expand a technology business
in Nigeria. Jefferson was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 13 years in
prison. His sentence was subsequently reduced.
Separately U.S. Senate
investigators in 2010 alleged that one of Atiku’s four wives helped him
transfer more than $40 million in “suspect funds” into the United States from
offshore shell companies.
At least $1.7 million of that
money were bribes paid by German technology company Siemens AG, according to
Senate investigators. Siemens pleaded guilty to bribery charges in 2008 and
agreed to pay a $1.6 billion fine.
Atiku has repeatedly denied any
wrongdoing. Neither he nor his wife face criminal charges in the United States.
“These issues have been addressed
several times in the past and we do not wish to comment further on them,” a
spokesman for Atiku said when asked about the corruption allegations.
Atiku’s whirlwind visit to
Washington last month was put together with the help of two U.S. lobbying
firms.
Holland & Knight was hired by
Atiku personally in December to help him secure a visa, in part by enlisting
members of Congress to request one on his behalf, according to a lobbyist for
the firm. It has been paid $80,000 so far.
Ballard Partners was hired by
Atiku’s political party at a rate of $90,000 per month in September, before
Atiku emerged as the party’s candidate, according to U.S. disclosure filings.
The firm’s lobbyists worked to
set up a meeting with Nagy, arguing it would show that the United States wanted
to encourage free and fair elections in a country where graft is endemic.
“We are not asking the
administration or anyone to take sides, but to merely demand the same level of
freeness and fairness,” Ballard lobbyist Jamie Rubin told Reuters.
Aside from Nagy, Atiku met with
business leaders at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and at least two Republican
lawmakers in the House of Representatives who specialize in foreign affairs,
Representative Michael McCaul of Texas and Representative Chris Smith of New
Jersey.
Neither requested a visa waiver
for Atiku, spokespeople for the two congressmen said.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com