Former vice president Atiku Abubakar says his long absence from the country was because of a course he went outside the country to study.
After the Supreme Court affirmed the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari for the second and final tenure, Mr Abubakar, widely referred to as Atiku, left the country.
His critics said he left for Dubai to merry, leaving the country to burn and will return when the politics surrounding the next presidential election will start.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain was sighted at a recent wedding fist-bumping with Mr Buhari who trounced him with about four million votes during the last presidential election.
Explaining his reason for being absent after the Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting of the opposition party he attended in Abuja on Thursday, Atiku said he went to study a course recommended to him by his former boss, ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo.
“Many people have wondered where I have been since September last year and it became a matter of rumour among many people and all what not,” the former number two citizen said. “I want to say that I was away, because I went back to school and I have finished my lectures in May, where I read masters in international relations from Cambridge University.
“I want to use this opportunity to thank our former President Obasanjo for actually recommending me for that course to that university,” he added.
