Atiku Spending $1.2m on US Lobbyist to Attack Tinubu, Manufacture Crises — Presidency

 

By Abel Chigozie 

Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, Dr Sunday Dare, has dismissed reports linking a Washington-based lobbying firm to alleged classified information concerning Nigeria, describing the claims as politically motivated speculation designed to influence the 2027 elections.

Dare, in a statement titled “Peddling Political Speculation as Classified Information: Atiku’s $1.2 Million Washington Lobbying Gamble Exposed,” alleged that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s political camp was using foreign lobbyists and media platforms to create controversies around the Tinubu administration.

According to him, publicly available filings under the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) show that Atiku contracted Washington-based consultancy firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., on a $1.2 million, 12-month retainer.

Dare argued that the engagement was part of a broader political communications strategy aimed at countering the Nigerian government’s narrative and reviving historical legal issues ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He challenged those promoting reports of an alleged “highly classified intelligence report” to produce the document, identify their sources and provide verifiable evidence to substantiate the claims.

“The incendiary press releases being carefully churned out from Washington are public relations propaganda sheets passed off as the view of the U.S. Government. They are not,” Dare said.

He further described Dr Karl-Marx Edward Okeke-Von Batten, whom he identified as the founder of the lobbying firm, as a commercial lobbyist rather than an official of the U.S. government.

Dare alleged that presenting the lobbyist as a senior U.S. government adviser capable of speaking for the Trump administration was misleading, insisting that his statements should not be interpreted as representing the position of the U.S. government or President Donald Trump.

The presidential aide also dismissed suggestions that President Tinubu’s ongoing European vacation was connected to proceedings in the United States involving requests for the release of historical FBI records.

According to him, the proceedings predated Tinubu’s current trip and are part of an ongoing legal process concerning the release of records held by U.S. federal agencies.

Dare maintained that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s concerns relate primarily to legal restrictions surrounding investigative techniques and the protection of confidential sources, rather than an alleged attempt to shield the Nigerian President from damaging information.

He also referenced recent comments by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Wole Afolabi, during a Channels Television programme, arguing that efforts to withhold portions of the requested records were consistent with U.S. legal provisions governing confidential investigative materials.

Dare said that if Tinubu had been criminally liable under U.S. law during any previous investigation, American authorities would have had the opportunity to prosecute him at the time.

He accused Atiku and his political associates of relying excessively on historical allegations and foreign-based lobbying instead of presenting Nigerians with a clear policy alternative ahead of 2027.

According to him, the opposition should focus on economic programmes, job creation, agricultural development, industrialisation and other issues affecting Nigerians rather than what he described as “muckraking, emotional manipulation and ethnic polarization.”

Dare also defended the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms, saying the government was pursuing fiscal reforms, infrastructure development and institutional restructuring aimed at laying the foundation for long-term national development.

He argued that the 2027 election would ultimately be determined by Nigerian voters based on candidates’ policies, performance and ability to address domestic challenges.

“True democratic validation is earned through the ballot box and tangible service delivery to the citizens at home, not through manufactured headlines bought and paid for in foreign currency,” Dare said.

He maintained that Nigerians would not be swayed by what he described as “rented international mouthpieces,” insisting that political legitimacy must be earned through domestic accountability, credible policies and measurable development.

Dare’s statement comes amid renewed political exchanges between the Tinubu administration and opposition figures ahead of the 2027 general elections, with both sides increasingly trading accusations over governance, economic reforms and the use of foreign institutions in domestic political disputes.