The political confrontation between President Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has intensified, with Atiku’s camp challenging the Presidency to address questions surrounding United States records involving Tinubu instead of focusing on the background of Atiku’s Washington lobbyist.
Phrank Shaibu, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku Abubakar, made the challenge in a statement on Wednesday, September 2, in response to comments by the Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare.
Dare had criticised the activities and background of US-based lobbyist Karl Von Batten, whose firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has been engaged by Atiku. Documents filed with the United States Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act show that Atiku entered into a 12-month lobbying agreement valued at $1.2 million.
Shaibu argued that the Presidency was diverting attention from what he described as documented US records concerning Tinubu.
He referred to a historical US civil forfeiture proceeding involving about $460,000 linked to an account bearing Tinubu’s name. However, Shaibu acknowledged that civil forfeiture should not be equated with a criminal conviction, saying the existence of a court record was the issue his camp wanted addressed. Recent reporting also confirms that the $460,000 matter was a civil forfeiture proceeding rather than a criminal conviction against Tinubu.
The Atiku camp also questioned the Presidency’s criticism of the former vice-president’s expenditure on lobbying.
Shaibu cited the Nigerian government’s engagement of Washington-based DCI Group. Reporting based on US lobbying filings shows that Nigeria, through Aster Legal, entered into an arrangement with DCI Group at $750,000 per month, with an initial six-month value of $4.5 million and a possible total of $9 million if renewed for another six months.
Shaibu used the figure to accuse the administration of double standards, contrasting the government’s lobbying expenditure with Atiku’s $1.2 million, 12-month engagement.
The dispute comes as both political camps increasingly turn their attention to international opinion and US records ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general election.
The Presidency has maintained that the activities of Atiku’s lobbyist are politically motivated, while Atiku’s camp insists that the focus should remain on publicly available US records and the government’s own lobbying arrangements.
