The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Tinubu to explain the circumstances surrounding the forfeiture of $460,000 in the United States instead of focusing on the lobbying firm he engaged.
Atiku’s response followed criticism from the Presidency over his $1.2 million engagement of Washington-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., to advance his interests in the United States.
The former vice-president, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the contract with the firm was openly registered with the US Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Atiku argued that the Presidency should address questions surrounding Tinubu’s 1993 forfeiture rather than attacking the background of the lobby firm’s managing partner.
Tinubu surrendered $460,000 to the US authorities in 1993 following a US court case involving funds linked to a narcotics investigation. The circumstances surrounding the forfeiture have remained a recurring subject of political controversy in Nigeria.
Atiku said the key issue was whether the Presidency could satisfactorily explain Tinubu’s alleged connection to the US federal narcotics and money-laundering investigation and the forfeiture of the funds held in an account in his name.
The ADC candidate also defended his decision to hire the lobbying firm, saying the $1.2 million engagement was a legitimate and publicly disclosed arrangement.
The firm had previously disclosed that part of its mandate was to address what it described as competing lobbying narratives about Nigeria and Atiku in the United States.
It subsequently said it had provided members of the Donald Trump administration, Congress and congressional staff with US Department of Justice records relating to allegations surrounding Tinubu.
However, Presidential Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, had criticised Atiku’s engagement with the firm, questioning claims about the lobbyist’s access to or influence within the Trump administration and US legal proceedings.
Dare also cautioned against suggestions that the firm could influence ongoing proceedings or directly shape decisions within the US government.
In his response, Atiku accused the Presidency of applying a double standard, alleging that the Tinubu administration had itself engaged DCI Group under an arrangement worth $750,000 monthly for six months, with provisions that could raise the total value to $9 million.
“If Atiku’s $1.2 million is evidence of desperation, what exactly should Nigerians call your own arrangement capable of reaching $9 million?” he asked.
Atiku therefore challenged the President to account for the alleged lobbying arrangement before questioning his own expenditure and, more importantly, to provide an explanation for the $460,000 forfeiture.
“Before attacking the messenger, answer the $460,000 question,” Atiku said.
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