The All Progressives Congress in the US has said the visit of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, to Washington DC does not exonerate him from money laundering and corruption allegations.

Atiku, who’s the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate in the forthcoming 2019 presidential elections, last visited the US in 2007. It has been speculated in some quarters that Atiku avoided visiting the US over fears he would be arrested over links to crimes that landed a former US congressman in prison.

However, on Thursday, Atiku landed in US, scoring points against his main political opponent, the APC.

Reacting to his visit, the party, in a statement by Adeshegun Labinjo, chairman, US chapter of APC, said that Atiku’s questionable character does not evaporate because he has stepped on American soil.

The statement read:

 “The questionable character of the individual does not evaporate because he has stepped on the soil of America

“A thief remains a thief no matter where he or she visits. Obviously, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku has every reason to have kept off the USA given the cloak of corruption he is wearing.

“After a long spell of noticeable absence and factual concerns about Alhaji Abubakar Atiku’s antecedents in the USA arising from his dealings with former Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana, who was convicted and served a jail term on account of bribery resulting from a telecommunication transaction in Nigeria, Atiku is now here again in the US.

“Congressional records point to the fact that Atiku engaged in money laundering through his wife who was then resident in the USA.

“We see Atiku, who is the 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of Nigeria, as a self-centred corrupt Vice President under President Obasanjo’s regime.

“Certainly, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku‘s entry and presence in the USA is a mockery of President Bush Presidential Proclamation 7750 which affirms the denial of US visa to foreign officials involved with corruption and other supporting legislation by the Congress. APC-USA believes that Alhaji Abubakar Atiku should be held accountable for his involvement m money laundering.”