Atiku Abubakar
In a recent interview with Punch, the spokesperson of the Atiku Abubakar Presidential campaign organization, Segun Showunmi, says the ban on Atiku's US visa can be revoked anytime soon.
Showunmi said this while responding to a question on whether Atiku's performance might be hindered by the visa ban placed on him if he emerges the winner of the February 14th 2019 presidential election.
In his response, Showunmi said as much as the visa is important, Nigeria needs a president that would not be globetrotting but would stay home to fix the problems for which he was elected.
''All nations are sovereign entity. Each of the entity has to jealously guard its sovereignty. Within that broad concept, nations have the right to determine their own visa rules – how to give out visa, who should be given and who should not have it. Some of the reasons for such action are really, never made clear. Each country has its own administrative policy of visa issuance. We are the biggest black nation in the world. We should not insist that the evaluation of our own leaders should be based on a subjective issue around visa. One of the bigger economies of the world now is India. For one reason or the other, their Prime Minister, at one point or the other, had some administrative restrictions on his visit to America for a while. But when he became the Prime Minister of his country, he had visited America a couple of times. For all you know, this (Atiku visa’s) restriction may be removed even tomorrow. It does not mean that Atiku has never been to America before or he cannot visit America in the future. We even need a Nigerian President that would stay at home and work for Nigerians, not a globetrotter, who will be travelling from one country to the other when there are lots of issues that need his attention at home,'' he said.
Showunmi said this while responding to a question on whether Atiku's performance might be hindered by the visa ban placed on him if he emerges the winner of the February 14th 2019 presidential election.
In his response, Showunmi said as much as the visa is important, Nigeria needs a president that would not be globetrotting but would stay home to fix the problems for which he was elected.
''All nations are sovereign entity. Each of the entity has to jealously guard its sovereignty. Within that broad concept, nations have the right to determine their own visa rules – how to give out visa, who should be given and who should not have it. Some of the reasons for such action are really, never made clear. Each country has its own administrative policy of visa issuance. We are the biggest black nation in the world. We should not insist that the evaluation of our own leaders should be based on a subjective issue around visa. One of the bigger economies of the world now is India. For one reason or the other, their Prime Minister, at one point or the other, had some administrative restrictions on his visit to America for a while. But when he became the Prime Minister of his country, he had visited America a couple of times. For all you know, this (Atiku visa’s) restriction may be removed even tomorrow. It does not mean that Atiku has never been to America before or he cannot visit America in the future. We even need a Nigerian President that would stay at home and work for Nigerians, not a globetrotter, who will be travelling from one country to the other when there are lots of issues that need his attention at home,'' he said.
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