The Nigerian presidency has responded to a comment by Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president of the country, in which he said that President Muhammadu Buhari was banned from entering the United States of America “for about 15 years on account of religious considerations”.
In a statement issued to the press on Saturday, December 2, 2017, signed by Femi Adesina, one of the spokespersons for the president, Buhari denied being banned from entering the US saying that Atiku shouldn’t “drag Buhari into his troubles with the US”.
“Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, claims in an interview published Saturday that “for about 15 years, Buhari could not enter America on account of religious considerations,” Adesina wrote.
“This fictive concoction being passed off as truth is mind boggling, coming from a former Number Two man of Nigeria, who should know the truth.
“At no time was President Buhari, as a private person, ever forbidden from entering any country in the world. Rather, the rest of the world has always held Muhammadu Buhari as a man of sterling qualities, strong on integrity, transparency and accountability.
“The same testimony is still borne of the Nigerian President by many world leaders today.
“It is curious that former VP Abubakar had been asked why he had not visited America for over a decade, something that had been a stubborn fact dogging his footsteps.
“Instead of answering directly, he begged the question, saying Buhari also had been disallowed from entering the same country for 15 years, before becoming President.
“We hereby make it resoundingly clear that what the former Vice President said only exists in the realm of his imagination. If he has issues to settle with American authorities, he should do so, rather than clutch at a straw,” the statement ended.
“For about 15 years, Buhari could not enter America on account of religious considerations,” Mr. Abubakar said in an interview with renowned journalist and publisher Dele Momodu in an interview which first appeared on his Pendulum column on Thisday newspapers, Saturday.
Mr. Momodu had asked Mr. Abubakar why he had not been able to visit the United States for many years, amid speculations that he is wanted in that country for a slew of sharp practices.
Mr. Abubakar, who is expected to run for president in 2019, said the U.S. authorities have nothing against him. He said he was able to visit Europe regularly without being arrested for onward extradition to the U.S.
The former vice president said if Nigerians elect him president, he would be allowed into the United States just like Mr. Buhari and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both of whom are now being accorded red carpet treatments in the U.S. after becoming leaders of their respective countries.
