Buhari Moves To Suffocate Atiku, Revokes INTELS Expatriate Residence Permit

President Muhammadu Buhari has moved further to suffocate former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to weaken his strength to challenge him in the 2019 presidential race.

To that end, he, through the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), has revoked the resident permit of expatriate staff of INTELS Nig. Ltd., a company belonging to Alhaji Abubakar.

The Comptroller-General of the NIS, Mr Muhammad Babandede, announced the clampdown in Abuja on Wednesday in a statement issued by Mr Sunday James, spokesman of the agency.

Besides INTELS, other companies operating in the country axed are:

1. PRODECO International Ltd., 

2. West Africa Machinery Services Ltd., 

3. Net Global System International Ltd., 

4. MGM Logistics Solutions Ltd., and 

5. ORIEAN Investment Ltd.

Mr James claimed the action was in exercise of the powers vested on the Comptroller-General in section 39 subsection 1 of the Immigration Act 2015 and section 5, subsection 5 of the Immigration Regulation 2017.

The sections empower the NIS to revoke the resident permit of expatriate workers of companies whose operational licenses are withdrawn by the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority.

He stated: “Consequently, Babandede has directed that the expatriate staff of the affected companies above leave Nigeria not later than Nov. 30, 2017.

“They might be recommended to the Honourable Minister of Interior for deportation should they fail to leave the country as directed by the CGI,” James added.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), recently, canceled the contract between it and INTELS after it cited “contract breech”.

All these developments are coming ever since a Minister under the Buhari administration, Amina Alhassan nominated Atiku Abubakar for presidency in 2019.

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