Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Tinubu to explain a $460,000 forfeiture recorded in a United States court instead of criticising the lobbyist he hired in Washington.
Atiku’s position was contained in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, in response to comments by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare.
Dare had criticised Atiku’s engagement of US lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York and cautioned against claims that its managing partner, Karl Von Batten, had access to President Donald Trump or could influence ongoing court proceedings.
Shaibu, however, accused the Presidency of avoiding the substantive issues raised by US judicial records by focusing on Atiku’s lobbyist.
Atiku engaged the firm in March for $1.2 million to protect and strengthen his reputation in the US. Documents filed under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act show that part of its mandate was to counter Nigerian government lobbying narratives in Washington.
The firm said in July that it had begun providing members of the Trump administration, Congress and senior congressional staff with US Department of Justice records relating to allegations concerning Tinubu.
Shaibu said the engagement was publicly registered with the US Department of Justice and could therefore not be described as a secret attempt to influence the US government.
He challenged Tinubu to explain why his name appeared in historical US federal narcotics and money-laundering records and why a US District Court issued a decree forfeiting $460,000 held in an account in his name.
“These are not documents written by Atiku Abubakar. They were not manufactured by Karl Von Batten. They form part of an American judicial record,” Shaibu said.
He acknowledged that civil forfeiture does not amount to a criminal conviction but argued that the existence of the court record could not be dismissed through political attacks.
Shaibu also accused the Tinubu administration of hypocrisy over its criticism of Atiku’s lobbying arrangement.
He alleged that the administration had engaged DCI Group at $750,000 monthly, amounting to $4.5 million for the first six months, with provisions that could raise the total value to $9 million.
He argued that both Tinubu and Atiku were entitled to engage lobbyists and questioned why Atiku’s arrangement was being portrayed as an act of desperation.
Shaibu said the focus should instead be on the challenges facing Nigerians, including rising food and transportation costs, electricity bills, insecurity and declining purchasing power.
“President Tinubu, before counting Atiku’s $1.2 million, account for your own $9 million arrangement. And before attacking the messenger, answer the $460,000 question,” he said.