Oshiomhole, who is the Deputy Director of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council expressed confidence that Atiku will lose the election.
The former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole has said that he hopes that the visa ban on Nigerians by the United Arab Emirates will not prevent the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, from returning to Dubai after losing the 2023 presidential election.
Oshiomhole, who is the Deputy Director of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council expressed confidence that Atiku will lose the election.
According to Oshiomhole, Nigerians will again reject Atiku in the next election. Atiku has contested for President five times and fell short on each occasion.
The former National Chairman of APC who stated this on Wednesday morning while featuring on Arise TV morning show was clarifying a statement attributed to Kashim Shettima, the APC’s presidential running mate, that Atiku would be retiring to Dubai after the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking further, Oshiomhole said Atiku has a history of being rejected by Nigerians, and that after the rejection, he would go to Dubai.
Oshiomhole said the trend will not change after the 2023 presidential election but that he only hopes that the visa ban recently imposed by the UAE on Nigerians would not affect the PDP presidential candidate when he wants to return to Dubai after the next election.
Oshimhole said, “Given Atiku’s record of movement, that once he suffers a defeat – it is on record, once he loses an election, he moves to Dubai.
“And so, he (Shettima) is saying because we are confident that nothing has changed. Nigeria has rejected him three, four times, and even the best partnership he enjoyed in 2019 with (Peter) Obi did not deliver him. Now, his ticket is not as potent as it was in 2019.
“We are confident that, God willing, using the same Nigerian people who had rejected him in the past, they will reject him again. And because once he is rejected, he has a history of relocating to Dubai. That is what the Vice president meant.”
“And I think Atiku will actually relocate to Dubai, he has been doing it. He is comfortable there. I hope that the ban on Nigeria does not affect him. Hopefully, he will go there,” he added.
In October, the UAE Immigration authorities announced a visa ban on Nigerians and nationals of at least 19 other countries, adding that all submitted applications were rejected and that fees paid were non-refundable.
"This is to inform you that we will not be posting 30 days visa applications for these nationalities effective today October 18, 2022," the notice read in part.
The countries affected by the visa ban include Uganda, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Liberia, Burundi, Republic of Guinea, Gambia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Benin, Ivory Coast, Congo, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Comoros, and the Dominican Republic.