Atiku urges Tinubu to address forfeiture, not lobbyist
Former Vice President and presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to provide clarity on the controversial $460,000 forfeiture in the United States, insisting that the Presidency should focus on explaining the matter rather than attacking his choice of lobbyist in Washington.
Atiku’s remarks were conveyed through his aide, Phrank Shaibu, who issued a statement in response to criticism from Sunday Dare, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications. Dare had questioned Atiku’s engagement of the US lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, cautioning against claims that its managing partner, Karl Von Batten, had influence within the Trump administration or ongoing judicial proceedings.
Abimbola Joseph
Former Vice President and presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to provide clarity on the controversial $460,000 forfeiture in the United States, insisting that the Presidency should focus on explaining the matter rather than attacking his choice of lobbyist in Washington.
Atiku’s remarks were conveyed through his aide, Phrank Shaibu, who issued a statement in response to criticism from Sunday Dare, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications. Dare had questioned Atiku’s engagement of the US lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, cautioning against claims that its managing partner, Karl Von Batten, had influence within the Trump administration or ongoing judicial proceedings.
Shaibu countered that the Presidency was deliberately sidestepping the real issue by targeting Atiku’s lobbyist instead of addressing the judicial records that link Tinubu to narcotics-related investigations in the US.
He emphasised that Atiku’s engagement with the lobbying firm was transparent, having been registered with the US Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The contract, worth $1.2 million, was signed in March to safeguard Atiku’s reputation and counterbalance the Nigerian government’s narrative in Washington.
Documents filed in July revealed that the firm had begun sharing US Department of Justice records with members of Congress and officials in the Trump administration, highlighting allegations of drug trafficking and money laundering connected to Tinubu.
Shaibu stressed that these records were not fabricated by Atiku or his lobbyist but were part of established American judicial proceedings. He challenged Tinubu to explain why his name appeared in those records and why a US District Court ordered the forfeiture of $460,000 from an account linked to him.
While acknowledging that civil forfeiture is not equivalent to a criminal conviction, Shaibu argued that the existence of such records cannot simply be dismissed through political attacks.
He also accused the Tinubu administration of hypocrisy, pointing out that it had reportedly engaged the US lobbying firm DCI Group at a cost of $750,000 per month, amounting to $4.5 million in six months, with provisions that could extend the deal to $9 million.
Shaibu questioned why Atiku’s lobbying arrangement was being portrayed as desperation when Tinubu himself had entered into a far more expensive contract. He urged the Presidency to shift its focus to pressing national issues such as rising food and transport costs, electricity tariffs, insecurity, and declining purchasing power.
“President Tinubu, before criticising Atiku’s $1.2 million engagement, account for your own $9 million arrangement. And before attacking the messenger, answer the $460,000 question,” Shaibu declared.
