US Lobby: PDP speaks on Atiku’s $30,000 payment for his recognition as “authentic president”

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has reacted to reports that its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, paid $30,000 to a United States, US, lobby group to assist in the quest to reclaim what he believes to be his mandate emanating from the election constitutionally won by President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

A research group based in the US, Centre for Responsive Politics, CRP had claimed that Abubakar was lobbying the United States government not to recognise anyone but him as Nigeria’s president-elect.

CRP, in a report released last week, alleged that Abubakar was making this effort through some Washington DC lawyers engaged in a 90-day contract worth $30,000.

However, the former ruling party, as usual, described the report as tissues of lies although it was not the first time PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku, had been exposed to have hired the services of a US lobbyist.

It will be recalled Brian Ballard was hired for the same purpose leading to Atiku being smuggled as Bukola Saraki’s aide into the United States sleeping in President Donald Trump’s hotel and documents proved it happened.

In a statement by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Thursday, PDP insisted that agents of the APC-led government were behind the allegation.

According to Ologbondiyan: “The motive is to use lies, fabrications, threats and sponsoring of Atiku campaign posters to portray Atiku Abubakar and the PDP as being desperate and ready to subvert the rules in the pursuit of our mandate; and by so doing discredit our candidate in the eyes of the judiciary and the public in general.

“This explains why agents of the APC-led government fabricated and pushed into the public space, bogus and laughable claims that Atiku Abubakar paid $30,000 to a US lobby group to assist in the quest to reclaim our
mandate only for the Federal Government and the Presidency to turn around to feast on the fabrications with threats against Atiku Abubakar.”

PDP also urged Nigerians to hold Buhari’s Personal Assistant on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie responsible should anything happen to Abubakar.

“Moreover, it is instructive to state that the PDP and Atiku Abubakar do not need any foreign lobby group to prove our case before the tribunal as Nigerians themselves have been at the forefront of this pursuit, especially with our overwhelming evidence before the court.

“We therefore caution the APC-led Federal Government to allow the tribunal to judiciously carry out its responsibilities without let or hindrance as well as stop their unrelenting plots to overheat the system and derail the course of justice as such will all come to naught,” it said.