• Home
  • AbiaOnline TV
  • Abia News
  • Politics
  • Sports/Entertainment
  • Governance
  • Featured
  • Agriculture
  • Health
  • Log in
Abia Online
  • Blog
  • About Abia Online
  • Contact
Abia Online

Aba, Abia State

February 19th, 2019
  • Home
  • AbiaOnline TV
  • Abia News
    VIDEO: STILL ON THE ABDUCTION, TORTURE AND FRAMING OF CITIZEN FELIX KENNEDY OBISIKE...

    VIDEO: STILL ON THE ABDUCTION, TORTURE AND FRAMING OF CITIZEN FELIX KENNEDY OBISIKE...

    ABDUCTION, TORTURE, FORGERY, OTHER CRIMES; UCHE OGAH TO BE ARRESTED

    ABDUCTION, TORTURE, FORGERY, OTHER CRIMES; UCHE OGAH TO BE ARRESTED

    NIBRA FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY: THE MANY GAINS, IKPEAZU'S VISION FOR INDUSTRIALISATION AND JOB CREATION

    NIBRA FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY: THE MANY GAINS, IKPEAZU'S VISION FOR INDUSTRIALISATION AND JOB CREATION

    THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE ADOPTION OF MR FELIX OBISIKE

    THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE ADOPTION OF MR FELIX OBISIKE

    Those involved in the abduction and torture of Citizen Felix must be punished

    Those involved in the abduction and torture of Citizen Felix must be punished

  • Politics
    Elections: Controversy as SSS summons top INEC officials

    Elections: Controversy as SSS summons top INEC officials

    One year after, lone Dapchi schoolgirl, Leah, still under captivity

    One year after, lone Dapchi schoolgirl, Leah, still under captivity

    VIDEO: STILL ON THE ABDUCTION, TORTURE AND FRAMING OF CITIZEN FELIX KENNEDY OBISIKE...

    VIDEO: STILL ON THE ABDUCTION, TORTURE AND FRAMING OF CITIZEN FELIX KENNEDY OBISIKE...

    BREAKING: INEC Endorses Resumption Of Political Campaigns

    BREAKING: INEC Endorses Resumption Of Political Campaigns

    2019 Elections: Aero slashes fare by 50 percent for voters

    2019 Elections: Aero slashes fare by 50 percent for voters

  • Sports/Entertainment
    FA Cup: Solskjaer reveals why Man Utd beat Chelsea 2-0, speaks on Wolves clash

    FA Cup: Solskjaer reveals why Man Utd beat Chelsea 2-0, speaks on Wolves clash

    Champions League: Mourinho gets chance to hit back at Pogba, Man Utd

    Champions League: Mourinho gets chance to hit back at Pogba, Man Utd

    Man City apologises to Chelsea

    Man City apologises to Chelsea

    Emiliano Sala’s body found

    Emiliano Sala’s body found

    Videos: Venues of Big Brother Naija 2019 auditions

    Videos: Venues of Big Brother Naija 2019 auditions

  • Governance
    ABDUCTION, TORTURE, FORGERY, OTHER CRIMES; UCHE OGAH TO BE ARRESTED

    ABDUCTION, TORTURE, FORGERY, OTHER CRIMES; UCHE OGAH TO BE ARRESTED

    I said I was richer than Osun State, Tinubu admits

    I said I was richer than Osun State, Tinubu admits

    Kogi dep gov: Yayaha Bello stopped my salary and withdrew my security aides

    Kogi dep gov: Yayaha Bello stopped my salary and withdrew my security aides

    NIBRA FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY: THE MANY GAINS, IKPEAZU'S VISION FOR INDUSTRIALISATION AND JOB CREATION

    NIBRA FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY: THE MANY GAINS, IKPEAZU'S VISION FOR INDUSTRIALISATION AND JOB CREATION

    Pray or elections may not hold, CAN warns Nigerians

    Pray or elections may not hold, CAN warns Nigerians

  • Featured
    VIDEO: STILL ON THE ABDUCTION, TORTURE AND FRAMING OF CITIZEN FELIX KENNEDY OBISIKE...

    VIDEO: STILL ON THE ABDUCTION, TORTURE AND FRAMING OF CITIZEN FELIX KENNEDY OBISIKE...

    THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE ADOPTION OF MR FELIX OBISIKE

    THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE ADOPTION OF MR FELIX OBISIKE

    APC'S INFANTILE AND DESPERATE MOVES IN ABIA STATE

    APC'S INFANTILE AND DESPERATE MOVES IN ABIA STATE

    ANALYSIS: How Ezekwesili’s withdrawal affects Nigeria’s chance of a female president

    ANALYSIS: How Ezekwesili’s withdrawal affects Nigeria’s chance of a female president

    2019 ELECTION: GOVERNOR IKPEAZU MEETS HIS PEOPLE

    2019 ELECTION: GOVERNOR IKPEAZU MEETS HIS PEOPLE

  • Agriculture
    Anambra community cries out to Obiano over attacks by herdsmen

    Anambra community cries out to Obiano over attacks by herdsmen

    OVERWHELMED: GOVERNOR IKPEAZU'S NUMEROUS ACHIEVEMENTS THROW OPPOSITIONS OFF BALANCE

    OVERWHELMED: GOVERNOR IKPEAZU'S NUMEROUS ACHIEVEMENTS THROW OPPOSITIONS OFF BALANCE

    Suspected herdsmen set Ortom’s rice farm ablaze

    Suspected herdsmen set Ortom’s rice farm ablaze

    Farmers/herdsmen crisis: Government has failed – Stakeholders take position in Kaduna

    Farmers/herdsmen crisis: Government has failed – Stakeholders take position in Kaduna

    Herdsmen kill 4 Benue farmers in fresh attack

    Herdsmen kill 4 Benue farmers in fresh attack

  • Health
    El-Rufai lied over killing of 66 Kaduna residents — CAN, NEMA

    El-Rufai lied over killing of 66 Kaduna residents — CAN, NEMA

    2019 election: Nobody will unseat me, Buhari vows

    2019 election: Nobody will unseat me, Buhari vows

    STUDY: Buhari Suffering From A Combination Of Prostate Cancer, Sickle Cell, Crohn’s Disease And Dementia

    STUDY: Buhari Suffering From A Combination Of Prostate Cancer, Sickle Cell, Crohn’s Disease And Dementia

    Shettima: why I was attacked

    Shettima: why I was attacked

    Don’t work as election ad hoc staff if you’re pregnant, NYSC warns female corpers

    Don’t work as election ad hoc staff if you’re pregnant, NYSC warns female corpers

  • Log in
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Youtube
Atiku’s visa status confidential, says US official …advises politicians to embrace issue-based campaigns
Home
Politics
Travel

Atiku’s visa status confidential, says US official …advises politicians to embrace issue-based campaigns

December 1st, 2018 Abia Online Abia Online Governance, News, Politics, Travel 0 comments 39

The United States Consulate in Lagos on Friday said matters relating to the application for or issuance of visa to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, or any other individual was a confidential matter.

This came barely 24 hours after the Federal Government called on the US government to be cautious about giving a US visa to Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 election.

The Public Affairs Officer of the US Consulate in Lagos, Brussel Brooks, stressed that the issue of US visa for anyone, irrespective of their social standing in the society, was strictly a confidential matter.

Brooks spoke while fielding questions from journalists seeking to know his view on the raging controversy surrounding Atiku’s application for US visa after attending a programme in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Friday.

He, however, called on candidates at all levels, from presidential to House of Assembly elections, to focus on issue-based campaigns instead of dwelling on things that were not important to the well-being of Nigerians.

He said, “The position of the US Mission has remained the same throughout any discussion on this issue that visas are a confidential matter.

“We don’t discuss visa status of any person, whether it be a highly rated official, a presidential candidate or an average citizen.

“Anyone who applies for a visa should know that there will be some records that are confidential. It is classified as a private document by the United States Government, and we never discuss them in public.”

He stressed that candidates in the forthcoming elections must engage in issue-based campaigns, while asking Nigerians to ask the candidates their plan to improve the education sector.

He said, “Oftentimes, unfortunately, campaigns are full of distractions; things that are not that important to the lives and welfare of average Nigerians, especially the children that are with us today. What is important is to give them (children) the opportunities to serve in order to thrive in today’s world.

“This means they need good education. The schools should be improved. When I heard about the letter from the students describing their lack of books and dearth of desks in their schools, this is very disheartening. There are things that should be corrected.

“I will also encourage parents and voters to ask the candidates what they plan to do to improve education. I think issue-based campaigns will be beneficial to all Nigerians.”

The programme, an education forum, which was organised by the Fulbright

Language Scholars’ Association of Nigeria, under the leadership of Miss Tolu Akinwole, titled, ‘Teaching Resources: Availability, Applicability and Appropriateness,’ was held at the University of Ibadan.

It was organised for 150 teachers and students drawn from various public schools in Oyo State and the representatives of Oyo State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Akinwole, who said FULSAN, being funded by the United States Consulate, had trained a total of 350 teachers in Oyo and Ondo states in 2018 with a view to igniting vibrant teachers and provide solutions, decried the inability of students to apply lessons they learn in classrooms to everyday life.

In a similar development, the Senate President and Director General of the PDP National Campaign Council, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has also said the opposition of the Federal Government to granting of a US visa to Atiku was a panic and desperate action of the government.

He argued that granting visa to Atiku did not equate to his endorsement even as he urged the Federal Government not to interfere with visa issuance matters.

Saraki spoke at the maiden media briefing of the campaign council on Friday in Abuja.

Following the revelation that Atiku has applied for a visa to enable him to visit the US, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had on Thursday in Abuja during an interactive session with journalists said, “We understand and appreciate the fact that it is the prerogative of the US to grant a visa to anyone who applies.

“However, we want the US 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. An impression must not be created that the US Government is endorsing one particular candidate over the other.”

Meanwhile, officials of the US government had told Sunday PUNCH that the US had no pending lawsuit against Atiku.

In response to an enquiry by Sunday PUNCH in 2016, a spokesperson for the US Department of Justice, Peter Carr, in an email response, said, “Thank you for reaching out to us. I have checked the public court records, and they do not show cases filed against a defendant named Atiku Abubakar-

Also, when the US Department of States was contacted by The PUNCH in 2017 to confirm why Atiku had been denied US visa, a US official said, “Due to US privacy laws, visa cases are considered confidential. We do not discuss specific cases.”

-Punch

Related

  • Tags
  • Abia Online
  • Atiku
  • US
Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest
Next article Armed group emerges in Sokoto, takes over LGA, arrests herdsmen, taxes households
Previous article Cleric Urges Buhari to Quit in 2019 over Sufferings
Abia Online

Abia Online

Related Posts

Elections: Controversy as SSS summons top INEC officials News
February 19th, 2019

Elections: Controversy as SSS summons top INEC officials

One year after, lone Dapchi schoolgirl, Leah, still under captivity News
February 19th, 2019

One year after, lone Dapchi schoolgirl, Leah, still under captivity

VIDEO: STILL ON THE ABDUCTION, TORTURE AND FRAMING OF CITIZEN FELIX KENNEDY OBISIKE... Abia News
February 19th, 2019

VIDEO: STILL ON THE ABDUCTION, TORTURE AND FRAMING OF CITIZEN FELIX KENNEDY OBISIKE...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Like our Facebook Page
Like our Facebook Page
Follow us on Twitter
My Tweets
Tweets by @Abiaonline1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQIEp7F4rtU&t=9s
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Advertisement
  • Contact Us
  • Back to top
About AbiaOnline

AbiaOnline is your No 1 News and Information Center website. We provide you with the latest breaking news, pictures and videos on Abia State government projects and activities.

  • Home
  • AbiaOnline TV
  • Abia News
  • Politics
  • Sports/Entertainment
  • Governance
  • Featured
  • Agriculture
  • Health
© Abia Online 2018. All rights reserved.
Developed by ForeFront Agency INC