Atiku has been accused of money laundering and fraud in the United States, reports say. For context, Atiku has visited so many nations and cities on earth since he left power in 2007. But he’s never visited the United States or a city in the United States. Why so? The name Atiku Abubakar came up in a Siemens broadband contract scandal involving Nigerian and American officials in the mid-2000s. According to sundry reports, from 2000 to 2008, Jennifer Douglas, a U.S. citizen and fourth wife of Atiku, helped her husband transfer over $40 million in suspicious funds into the United States. The money was sent by offshore corporations to U.S. bank accounts. A chunk of the money was used by the Atiku's to pay consultants for the setting up of the American University in Nigeria. The Nation reports that: “of the $40 million in suspect funds, $25 million was wire transferred by offshore corporations into more than 30 U.S. bank accounts opened by Ms. Douglas, primarily by Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria Ltd., LetsGo Ltd. Inc., and Sima Holding Ltd." Two of the offshore corporations' wire transferred about $14 million over five years to American University in Washington, D.C., to pay for consulting services related to the development of a Nigerian university founded by Mr. Abubakar. American University accepted the wire transfers without asking about the identity of the offshore corporations or the source of their funds, because under current law, the University had no legal obligation to inquire. Investigators say U.S. authorities probed the Siemens broadband contract because it was awarded to iGATE, an American company in which Williams Jefferson, then U.S. federal lawmaker from Louisiana, retained considerable interest. Jefferson and Atiku were best of friends at the time and it is believed in intelligence circles that the contract went on without glitches in Nigeria because Jefferson had agreed to pay bribe money to top political figures in Nigeria, including Atiku. In a secretly recorded conversation with the FBI, Jefferson disclosed that Atiku was promised $500,000 if he influenced the broadband deal from the Nigerian end of things. The case against Jefferson was premised on bribery, influence-peddling and contract inflation. Jefferson was found guilty and served jail time in the United States for his part in the transaction, but Atiku has never been prosecuted in Nigeria. There are insinuations that should Atiku visit the United States, he’ll be promptly arrested and prosecuted for his part in the transaction.

Atiku Abubakar granted an interview to some journalists and expressed utmost displeasure to Buhari’s anti-corruption fight, saying corruption is not Nigeria’s number one problem. By saying this, Atiku has explicitly shown that he doesn't intend to fight the vicious circles of corrupt elements. And also that if he becomes president, he will abandon all defense mechanisms used by Buhari in fighting corruption, and reset us back to the days of blemished ruling.