The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, was granted a temporary waiver to visit the United States according to people familiar with the matter, Reuters has reported.
Atiku had been banned from entering the US for 12 years until January 17.
He was named in the corruption trial of former US Representative, William Jefferson, who was accused of trying to bribe Atiku in an effort to expand a technology business in Nigeria.
The US government is yet to give an update on the former vice president’s travel ban.
However, several US government officials said the travel ban was waived temporarily by the State Department after lobbyists mounted a campaign among congressional lawmakers arguing that the administration should not snub the leading challenger to President Muhammadu Buhari in the February 16 election.
One person familiar with the matter, who did not want to be named, said Atiku was allowed to enter because the US did not want to start off on a wrong note with the man who might become the next leader of Africa’s most populous nation and the continent’s biggest oil producer.
“Assistant Secretary Nagy was pleased to meet with him and share the US government’s expectations that Nigeria’s elections be free, fair, transparent, and peaceful, and reflect the will of the Nigerian people,” a State Department official said.
It was alleged that Atiku’s four wives helped him transfer over $40 million into the US from offshore shell companies.
Reports say that Atiku’s US visit was put together by two US lobbying firms, Holland & Knight and Ballard Partners, who were personally hired by Atiku in December to help him secure a visa.
U.S. disclosure filings reveal that Holland & Knight has been paid $80,000 so far, while Ballard Partners was hired at a rate of $90,000 per month in September before Atiku emerged as the PDP presidential candidate.
“We are not asking the administration or anyone to take sides, but to merely demand the same level of freeness and fairness,” Ballard lobbyist, Jamie Rubin, told Reuters.
During his two-day visit, Atiku stayed at Trump International Hotel. His supporters say they chose the hotel because they were able to book rooms at a discounted rate with only a few days’ notice.
“I think it was because of the availability of the space,” said Uche Udemadu, an official with the US PDP chapter.
