Atiku Camp Reacts To Claim Of Owing $5.9m US Visa Processing Fee

The camp of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has denied claims that Atiku Abubakar has refused to pay a $5.9million US Visa processing fee.

Naija News earlier reported that a company, Legacy Logistics, had accused Atiku of failing to pay the money which was allegedly used to process a United States visa for him in 2018.

In a letter addressed to the former Vice President, the company through its law firm, Jurispetus Associates, said the agreement was entered into on October 15, 2018.

The company said Atiku, however, refused to honour the agreement after he was successfully issued a United States of America visa and was able to travel out of the country.

But in a swift response, Atiku’s lawyer, Prof. Maxwell Gidado said the allegation is an attempt to extort money from the PDP standard bearer.

Gidado described the firm as a fraudster and extortionist, adding that there was no legally binding contract between Atiku and the logistic company.

He said: “My take on the allegation above is that the authors of the allegation are simply fraudsters and extortionists.

“There has never been any legally binding contract between Atiku Abubakar and themselves. Neither has there been any of that between me authorized by Atiku Abubakar as claimed by them with themselves.

“So this contraption is nothing but an attempt to extort money from Atiku Abubakar. The legal team of Atiku Abubakar is on top of the matter and they will soon be hearing from them.”

Naija News recalls that the PDP presidential candidate was issued a US visa in December 2018, after being unable to visit the country for 13 years over an alleged bribery scandal.

Atiku’s row with the US authorities began after the FBI investigated a bribery scandal involving William Jefferson, former US congressman, in 2004.

The former Vice President was accused of demanding a bribe of $500,000 to facilitate the award of contracts to two American telecommunication firms in Nigeria.

The investigators had videotaped Jefferson receiving $100,000 worth of $100 bills which he claimed was meant for Atiku but he has consistently denied the allegation.

Despite Atiku’s claim of innocence, the controversy still continues to linger on in the political space.