Atiku denies paying US lobby group $30,000 to stop Buhari’s inauguration

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election, Atiku Abubakar has denied paying a United States lobby group $30, 000 to persuade the US Congress to stop the May 29 inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Buhari Campaign Group had alleged that Atiku paid the group to push for his recognition as the winner of the February 23 presidential election, which he lost to incumbent President Buhari.

In a statement yesterday by his media adviser, Mr Paul Ibe, the PDP candidate accused the Buhari group of fabricating what he described as “shameless lies and dirty propaganda” against Atiku. The statement said lying has become a culture to the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration and therefore, adding that the Atiku camp was not surprised by the latest diversionary allegations.

It added that since Atiku resisted pressure not to go to court, the APC has been behaving like “a cat on hot bricks” because the outcome of the 2019 elections has exposed and shattered the facade of their “dubious integrity”.

The statement said: “The APC are behaving nervously like a thief living under the fear of being exposed and shamed. They are now using fake news against Atiku instead of focusing on defending themselves in the court.

“For a party that has broken the worst record in election rigging, the APC doesn’t have any iota of integrity to be taken seriously by anybody.

“Atiku’s court case has become their biggest burden because it exposes their integrity as a sham, and instead of defending their stolen mandate in court, they are now using fake news to divert public attention from the historic electoral heist they have committed against Nigerians”.

The statement added that no amount of diversionary propaganda and fake news campaign by APC will stop Atiku Abubakar from continuing the court action he started to reclaim the “stolen mandate”.