Atiku disowns link asking Nigerians to apply for reliefs

By Lateef Ibrahim

Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has declared that he is not connected to a certain notice circulating on social media directing unsuspecting members of the public to a link for monetary benefits.
Atiku categorically said that any such link, asking for the bio-data of Nigerians as beneficiaries of monetary handout is fake.
The former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 elections disowned the said link in a statement issued on his behalf by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe yesterday in Abuja.
Atiku has consequently called on relevant security agencies to endeavor to unmask the scammers and ensure that they are brought to book and their evil plots against Nigerians nipped in the bud.
Atiku explained that as a patriotic and law abiding citizen, he had pledged his modest public donation to the Federal Government through the Priam Group to support government’s effort in fighting the spread of Corona virus in Nigeria and in providing succour to the most vulnerable of people amid the ravaging pandemic.
In addition, he pointed out that he had proposed stimulus package for the most vulnerable for consideration by government.
The statement reads, “We wish to bring to the attention of Nigerians that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is not connected to a certain notice circulating on social media directing unsuspecting members of the public to a link.
“We thus state categorically that any such link asking for the bio-data of Nigerians as beneficiaries of monetary handout is FAKE.
“This is obviously a SCAM, an attempt to fleece and defraud Nigerians by, perhaps, collecting their vital bio-data for a nefarious objective orchestrated by masterminds of the advertisement on social media.
“Atiku Abubakar, his businesses or charity organization is not in the know of this purported plan and the accompanying advertorial.“The website address, https//www.atikufoundation.online, given by the scammers for individuals to apply, is unknown to the former Vice President.
“As a patriotic and law abiding citizen, the Waziri Adamawa had pledged his modest public donation to the Federal Government through the Priam Group to support government’s effort in fighting the spread of Corona virus in Nigeria and in providing succour to the most vulnerable of people amid the ravaging pandemic.
“In addition, he had proposed stimulus package for the most vulnerable for consideration by government.
“We hereby call on relevant security agencies to endeavor to unmask these scammers and ensure that they are brought to book and their evil plots against Nigerians nipped in the bud.
“The official website of the former Vice President is www.atiku.org while his social media handles are as follows:
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Atiku.org. Twitter: https://twitter.com/atiku
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aatiku”, it said.