Shehu Sani condemns Buhari’s govt telling US to deny Atiku visa

The Senator representing Kaduna Central and a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party , Shehu Sani, has condemned,  in a strong terms, a statement credited to the Federal Government, informing the US to be cautious in granting visa to the PDP Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, during an interactive session with media executives in Abuja on Thursday had said that while the U.S. has the prerogative of whom to issue visa, it should be mindful of the timing, in order not to give the impression that Atiku has been endorsed by the U.S. government.

“We understand and appreciate the fact that it is the prerogative of the U.S. to grant a visa to anyone who applies.

“However, we want the U.S. to be neutral and be wary of taking any decision that will give the impression that they are favouring or endorsing one candidate over the other

“Impression must not be created that the U.S. government is endorsing one particular candidate over the other.” Mohammed was quoted to have said.

Reacting to the statement, Sani described the advice as ‘unpatriotic and condemnable.

He wrote on his tweeter handle:  ”Telling a foreign country not to grant visa to your fellow citizen on the ground that he is a candidate; and with no ‘proven case of criminal offense ’ or breach of national or international law, is not just an unpatriotic act but a condemnable act. “