2019: Declare your US immigration status, VON DG challenges Atiku

The Director-General of Voice of Nigeria, VON, Osita Okechukwu, has challenged former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to come clean on his United States immigration status.

Okechukwu also gave the indication that Abubakar would not be able to address insecurity in the country if, as the Nigerian President, he is unable to go to the US.

Reacting to Abubakar’s presidential declaration in Yola, Adamawa State, on Saturday, Okechukwu wondered if the Peoples Democratic Party chieftain would be able to go to the US if elected President in 2019.

The VON DG said that Abubakar’s inability to visit the US made him a less attractive option than the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari, who was hosted in the White House shortly after he assumed office.

Speaking to journalists in Enugu on Sunday, Okechukwu challenged Abubakar to authorise the United States Border Authority to make public his immigration status.

He said, “Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari, few weeks after the inauguration, was honoured with a red carpet reception at the White House.

“A presidential contest is like a beauty contest, and Buhari remains the best among those parading themselves to be President in 2019.”

The VON DG faulted Abubakar for declaring that more Nigerians had been killed during Buhari’s administration than the number of people that died in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan.

He urged Abubakar and all Nigerians to join hands with Buhari to fight insecurity, instead of “comparing the dead with those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.”