The Department of Justice of the United States of America has confirmed that there is an existing contract between the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and a US-based law firm, Fein & DelValle PLLC, according to a report by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting.
The law firm, based in Washington DC, was hired to get acknowledgement that Abubakar is “the authentic President of Nigeria” based on PDP’s grounds for challenging the declared results of the 2019 presidential election in Nigeria.
The incumbent, Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari, was pronounced the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The report by ICIR was based on the revelation of a non profit research group based in Washington DC, Centre for Responsive Politics.
Abubakar’s media aide, Paul Ibe, and the PDP had before now denied any existing contract with any firm in the US.
However, the report released early on Friday by ICRC revealed that Abubakar’s claim that the report about his contract with the US firm is a “total fabrication” is false.
Information on the US Justice Department’s FARA portal establishes that such contract exists, where Abibakar is seeking to be acknowledged abroad as “the authentic President of Nigeria” based on PDP’s grounds for challenging the declared results.
The contract was activated on April 2, 2019.
A fact sheet showed that Abubakar also had such a contract with JC Watts Companies between 2004 and 2005.
Abubakar was then the Vice President of Nigeria in the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.