Spokesperson of the President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Festus Keyamo, has mocked the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, over his recent visit to the United States.
Mr Abubakar touched down on US soil for the first time in 12 years on January 17 on a two-day visit.
In an obviously unrelated development, anti-corruption group, Transparency International (TI), in a report released on Tuesday noted that corruption had increased in the US under President Donald Trump.
Pegging his mockery on that, Mr Keyamo wrote on Twitter: “Anything that gravitates towards Atiku is always tainted with corruption. Now, the US gives him a ‘special waiver’ as a candidate to come in for a few days and see the result.”
According to TI, the US lost four points to score 71 out of 100 on the watchdog’s 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index, sending the country tumbling out of the top 20 for the first time since 2011.
“The low score comes at a time when the US is experiencing threats to its system of checks and balances as well as an erosion of ethical norms at the highest levels of power,” TI said in its annual report.
The second year of Trump’s presidency was a turbulent one, ranging from damaging revelations in an investigation probing links between Trump’s 2016 campaign team and Russia, to his controversial backing for a Supreme Court nominee accused of sexual assault.
