*Says ex-VP has disqualified himself over US visit
“So, Atiku has already answered the question of his fitness for the office by that statement ‘I can rule Nigeria without going to the United States’. What does that mean? Are you barred from the United States? If you are barred, what for? If you are not barred, why don’t you want to go?”
The question that has longed for answer from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar but which he has continued to dodge may have eventually been answered by no other than the politician himself.
It will be recalled that Atiku has persistently defended himself against allegations that he cannot travel to the United States of America (USA) due to certain reasons said to be known to him as, according to the allegations, he will be arrested if he dares.
But when journalists of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa Service came into the asking as to how he will be president of Nigeria while he cannot visit the USA, the answer that was eventually provided has questioned eligibility of the man being fronted by People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as their 2019 hopeful to contest for the presidency of a country as popular as Nigeria.
He said he can rule Nigeria without visiting America.
It is on the heels of the answer coming from the horse’s mouth himself that Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), professor of law and independently minded Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) at the weekend, said the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has already disqualified himself from the 2019 presidential election contest by saying he can rule Nigeria without travelling to the United States of America (USA).
In the interview with the BBC, Atiku asked whether it was a constitutional provision that one must visit the US before becoming president. “I can be president without going to America,” he said.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Independent, Sagay reportedly said judging by the statement, Atiku is already telling Nigerians that he is not fit to be the president of the country.
According to him, it is surprising how a presidential candidate will want to isolate himself and the country from the United States which is the greatest player in the economic and political spheres in the world.
According to Sagay, “As we say in law, res ipsa loquitur. The question has already been answered. In my view, when a presidential aspirant or candidate says that he can rule this country without being able to visit the United States or any other major capital of the world, what he is telling us is that ‘I am not qualified to be President’.
“So, Atiku has already answered the question of his fitness for the office by that statement ‘I can rule Nigeria without going to the United States’.
“What does that mean? Are you barred from the United States? If you are barred, what for? If you are not barred, why don’t you want to go?
“The United States is the greatest player in the economic and political spheres of this world. It is the number one country. So, what sort of president are you going to be if for a reason or the other you can’t go or you refuse to go? Why do you want to make the United States your enemy?
“So, for me he has answered that question. He has disqualified himself from the presidential race,” he said.
