The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2019 general election, Atiku Abubakar, has been found to have paid foreign experts up to $180,000, an equivalent of N64.8 million, to facilitate his January visit to the United States and get him recognised as president by the Government of the United States of America, documents obtained by the ICIR have shown.
To achieve e the twin plan, different contracts were filed with the US Department of Justice in February and April this year by Abubakar, the PDP and those enlisted for the jobs.
Such documents are considered public records and their filing is required by the US Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938.
In one of the agreements with registration number 6637, Abubakar agreed to pay John Barnett $150,000 to facilitate a trip to Washington DC, the US capital.
Barnett, in a letter dated November 29, 2018 and written to Abubakar to accept his offer, agreed to facilitate his trip “for an event to be hosted on your behalf by the Atlantic Council on December 20, 2018 between 2-3pm.
“I, in conjunction with Bob Horn of the law firm Husch Blackwell will facilitate meetings with the Atlantic Council, US Aid, the US Chamber of Commerce and others based oh their availability during your visit to Washington, DC.”
Blackwell is a litigation and business law firm in the US with expertise in international trade, government contracts, information governance, public policy and government affairs.
“The primary purpose of setting up these meetings was to obtain a visa for Mr. Abubakar to come to the United States,” revealed another part in the registration statement’s second exhibit.
It added: “We attempted to set up a meeting with the Atlantic Council for Mr. Abubakar, but that meeting ultimately never occurred. No outreach was done with respect to USAID or the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”
In attempting to obtain a visa for Abubakar, according to the document, the help of the Political Counsellor at the US Embassy to Nigeria, Anton Smith, was sought multiple times.
It also revealed that the aim of the contract itself is the “election of Atiku Abubakar to the Presidency of Nigeria”.
Twelve years since his last visit, Abubakar finally travelled to the US in January.
During the trip, he lodged at the Trump International Hotel, had a meeting with Nigerians, met with Congressman Chris Smith, and spoke at the US Chamber of Commerce.
The contents of the documents obtained contradicts the statement of the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who said Abubakar “was invited to attend functions”.
Abubakar himself said his trip to the US was not lobbied for but an invitation.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
