Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has debunked reports claiming that he and some members of his family were under the watchlist of the United States.
Reports which emerged on some media platforms recently have it that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an agency of the US Department of Treasury, in its surveillance of movements of money within the international system flagged some transactions connected to Atiku and some members of his family as suspicious.
However, Atiku denied the report while responding to the claim in a statement on through his media aide, Paul Ibe.
The statement read: “My attention has been drawn to recycled and regurgitated lies about the person of Atiku Abubakar.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Atiku Abubakar is not under any US watch list, neither has he been charged, or will ever be charged by the United States Justice Department or any other in a foreign jurisdiction.
“It will be recalled that these recycled lies were re-unearthed just before the February 23, 2019 Presidential election, and to put paid to them, His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, applied for and received a US visa, whereupon he embarked on a visit to the United States on January 17, 2019. He stayed at a hotel just miles to the United States Department of Justice.
“Atiku Abubakar in the course of that trip was also received in audience by officials of the United States Government.
“These ‘new’ reports are a desperate gambit to recast these discredited accusations. They are meant to divert the attention of Nigerians from the recent statement by the Secretary of State of the United States, Mr Mike Pompeo, announcing visa and travel bans for certain unnamed but notorious individuals.”
