Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned Nigerians not to fall prey into the hands of scammers, saying that those asking persons to submit their bank details to be credited with the sum of N65,000 as grant for empowerment are fraudsters.
This is contained in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe.
He said a group claiming to be “Travelling Abroad Opportunities” has been advertising a so-called “Atiku Grant by FG” on social media.
Ibe said the purported empowerment scheme is promising to hand out N65,000 to successful applicants after they have filled out an application form and provided their name, account number, and bank.
“For the avoidance of doubt, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, the former Vice President of Nigeria (1999-2007) and Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (2023) is not currently running an empowerment scheme that purports to give N65,000 to successful applicants.
“Also, there is no organisation related to, connected with, and associated with the former Vice President that is running an empowerment scheme by whatever shape or form,” the statement reads in part.
Atiku spokesperson pointed out that the so-called Atiku Grant by FG is a scam whose objective is to fleece unsuspecting Nigerians of their hard-earned money.
“This is to alert Nigerians not to participate in what is obviously a fraudulent scheme that seeks to hoodwink unsuspecting citizens into thinking that it is a scheme by Atiku Abubakar.
“Even if the Waziri Adamawa was going to embark on such a scheme, he would do so directly and not through a third party that is unknown to Nigerians,” the statement adds.
Atiku’s aide called on security agencies to “investigate promoters of this criminal scheme and countless other schemes, which aim is to scam innocent citizens and bring them to book”.