An insider source very close to Senator Bukola Saraki, the Senate President and the Director General of the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organisation has revealed how Senator Saraki engaged some American and other foreign Lobbyists to secure entry for Atiku Abubakar into America. Alhaji Atiku indicted by the American Senate for corrupt practices, who could not travel to United States of America for over a decade following intelligence reported that he was on the wanted list in America for various degrees of corruption offences was able to find himself into America for a less than 50-hours visit.

According to the source who preferred not to be named, he said Senator Saraki got some lobbyists who explored some loopholes in International Law and America’s Policy on Non-Intervention (Non-Interference) with political activities of foreign countries. The source said it was a very high level and secret arrangement, even most of the leaders of the Atiku Campaign Organisation and the Peoples Democratic Party were out of the picture.

The source said: “America has this policy that prohibits the country from interfering with political activities of other countries. The lobbyists simply put up well articulated argument which made it seem that America’s refusal to allow Atiku entry into America at this moment was already providing an advantage to the All Progressives Congress (APC)”. He said, in the lobbyists’ opinion, “any action of America that confers an advantage to a political party amounts to interference in the electoral process.”

It was based on this argument that Atiku Abubakar was given a waiver to enter into America and the waiver was for 6months. The entry was however subjected to so many restrictions, one of which was that Atiku could not stay in America for more that 7days on the entry within the waiver period. He added, “Atiku was prohibited from having any communication with any member of the American Government, whether of the executive or the legislature. He also signed 24 hours surveillance watch on him while in America”.

Independent investigation revealed that America is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention and Interference in the Domestic Affairs of States (UNGA Resolution 2131 (XX) of 1965. The resolution has formed the basis for the relationship between so many member states including America. In international law, the principle of non-intervention is not limited to the prohibition of the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of a state, but also includes interference on the political independence of any state. The principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of States also signifies that a State should not otherwise intervene in a dictatorial way in the internal affairs and electoral process of other States.

You would recall that weeks before Atiku Abubakar was granted waiver to enter into America, Mr. Russell Brooks, the Public Affairs Officer at the US Consulate General Lagos, was on the news to say that America would continue to remain neutral and do everything not to be seen to prefer any candidate. He said: “We are not favouring or supporting any candidate. It is up to the Nigerian people to decide. Our candidate is the process. The process should be free and fair, it should be a non-violent process. I am not talking of any plus or minus of any candidate, we are not favouring any candidate. We are not trying to influence the success of any candidate. That is not our role.”

The source made a rather more shocking revelation when he said that “the lobbyists charged $4m USD. The facilitators that link them to the lobbyists charged $800,000 USD”

Even though the National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has described Atiku’s visit to United States of America as “political milestone achievement”, however the dominant public opinion is that it made zero impact on Atiku’s integrity or on his political campaign. The truth remains that should Atiku Abubakar lose in his presidential bid, he would automatically lose the privilege and waiver that got him into America after a decade of ban.

As an APC supporter puts it succinctly: “Alhaji Atiku is simply running the election to acquire diplomatic immunity to shield him from pending danger. It is the duty of Nigerians to stop him from acquiring that immunity and protection from persecution”.

Modupe Abiola
Ontario, Canada