Answer The $460,000 Forfeiture Question, Don’t Attack My Lobbyist — Atiku Tells Tinubu
Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address the circumstances surrounding a $460,000 forfeiture recorded in the United States, rather than attacking his US lobbyist.
Atiku made the demand through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, in a statement on Wednesday, in response to comments by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare.
Dare had criticised Atiku’s decision to engage US lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York and warned against portraying its managing partner, Karl Von Batten, as someone with direct access to US President Donald Trump.
Shaibu accused the Presidency of diverting attention from US judicial records by questioning the background of Atiku’s lobbyist.
Atiku engaged the firm in March under a $1.2 million contract aimed at protecting and strengthening his reputation in the United States.
Documents filed by the firm with the US Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act showed that part of its mandate was to counter narratives being advanced by the Nigerian government in the US.
The firm also disclosed in July that it had started presenting US Department of Justice records concerning allegations of drug trafficking involving Tinubu to members of the Trump administration, Congress and senior congressional staff.
Shaibu maintained that Atiku’s relationship with the firm was properly registered with the US Department of Justice and was not a covert attempt to influence the US government.
“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 judicial record remained a legitimate matter for public explanation.
Shaibu also accused the Tinubu administration of double standards, alleging that the Federal Government separately engaged DCI Group in a deal worth $750,000 monthly, amounting to $4.5 million for the first six months and potentially $9 million.
“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.
