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A senior aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu, has launched a blistering attack on President Bola Tinubu’s media team, accusing the Presidency of hypocrisy over its criticism of Atiku’s engagement of a US lobbyist.
Mr Shaibu, in a statement on Wednesday, challenged the Presidency to explain an alleged multimillion-dollar Washington lobbying arrangement linked to the Tinubu administration before questioning Atiku’s reported $1.2 million engagement with US lobbyist Karl Von Batten-Montague-York.
He said instead of addressing the issues raised over the records, Mr Dare and officials at the Presidency had focused on the background, marriage, ancestry and business history of Karl Von Batten-Montague-York, the US lobbyist engaged by Mr Atiku.
“Sunday Dare’s latest epistle is not a rebuttal. It is a tantrum dressed in presidential grammar,” Mr Shaibu said.
He accused the presidential aide and the administration’s communication team of “investigating Karl Von Batten’s marriage, ancestry, names and business history” instead of responding to what he described as documented records in the United States.
“At this rate, perhaps their next press statement will tell Nigerians the colour of his socks and what he eats for breakfast,” he said.
The statement followed a recent exchange between the Presidency and supporters of Mr Atiku over the former vice president’s reported engagement of a US lobbying firm ahead of the 2027 general election.
Mr Shaibu argued that Mr Atiku’s engagement with Von Batten-Montague-York was voluntarily registered with the United States Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
He said the filing disclosed the nature, duration and compensation of the engagement, insisting that there was nothing clandestine about the arrangement.
“You cannot expose what was publicly disclosed,” he said.
Mr Shaibu, however, challenged Mr Dare to address what he described as historical US federal records relating to President Tinubu.
He asked why Mr Tinubu’s name had been connected to a historical US federal narcotics and money-laundering investigation and why, according to him, a US District Court had entered a decree forfeiting $460,000 held in an account in Mr Tinubu’s name.
“These are not documents written by Atiku. They were not manufactured by Karl Von Batten. They are part of an American judicial record,” he said.
The Atiku aide, however, acknowledged that civil forfeiture was different from criminal conviction.
“Let us also be precise: a civil forfeiture is not a criminal conviction. We have never said otherwise. But neither Sunday Dare nor his colleagues can abuse a court record out of existence,” he said.
Mr Shaibu also accused the Tinubu administration of double standards over the issue of political lobbying in Washington.
According to him, while the Presidency had portrayed Mr Atiku’s $1.2 million engagement with a US lobbyist as evidence of desperation, the Federal Government itself had entered into a Washington lobbying arrangement with DCI Group worth $750,000 monthly.
He claimed the arrangement amounted to $4.5 million for the first six months and contained provisions capable of taking its value to $9 million.
He said the arrangement was conducted through Aster Legal in connection with a senior federal security institution.
“Tinubu spends millions lobbying Washington: diplomacy.
“Atiku spends $1.2 million lobbying Washington: desperation.
“What magnificent hypocrisy,” he said.
Mr Shaibu argued that there was nothing inherently wrong with Nigerian political actors or the government engaging lobbyists in Washington, stressing that both Mr Tinubu and Mr Atiku were entitled to seek professional representation in the United States.
“His principal is entitled to engage lobbyists, and Atiku is equally entitled to engage lobbyists. Washington does not belong to the Nigerian Presidency,” he said.
He described the alleged multimillion-dollar lobbying arrangement involving the Federal Government as one of the administration’s “costliest Washington lobbying arrangements”, questioning why the Presidency would criticise its political opponent for spending money on similar services.
The Atiku aide further accused Mr Dare and the Presidency of deliberately making the biography and background of Mr Von Batten the focus of the debate in order to distract Nigerians from the issues raised by the opposition.
“The obsession with Karl Von Batten is an obvious diversion. Abuse the man. Mock his name. Research his wife. Count his clients. Inspect his socks.
“When Dare and his colleagues are finished, the $460,000 forfeiture record will still be there,” he said.
Mr Shaibu said the opposition would instead focus on what he described as documentary evidence and records rather than personal attacks.
“That is the problem with documents: they do not respond to insults,” he said.
The former vice president’s aide also challenged the Tinubu administration to focus its communication efforts on the economic challenges confronting Nigerians.
He listed food prices, transportation costs, electricity tariffs, insecurity and declining purchasing power among the issues he said should receive greater attention from the government.
“Perhaps the Villa’s communication team should devote some of this remarkable energy to explaining something Nigerians actually care about: why food is expensive, why transportation is expensive, why electricity is expensive, why the naira buys less and why millions of families are struggling to survive,” he said.
Mr Shaibu added: “Nigerians cannot eat Sunday Dare’s press releases.
“They cannot fuel their cars with his insults.
“And they certainly cannot pay school fees with his investigation into Karl Von Batten’s family tree.”
He also challenged Mr Dare’s call for the 2027 election debate to focus on domestic performance, saying such a debate should include an assessment of the Tinubu administration’s record in the economy and security.
“Dare says elections should be about domestic performance. Excellent. Let us discuss Tinubu’s domestic performance.
“Let us discuss food.
“Let us discuss transport.
“Let us discuss electricity.
“Let us discuss insecurity.
“Let us discuss the collapsing purchasing power of Nigerian families,” he said.
Mr Shaibu further questioned why, if the administration was delivering strong results domestically, it needed what he described as a multimillion-dollar lobbying operation in Washington to communicate its achievements to foreign audiences.
“Sunday Dare and the Villa jesters may continue entertaining themselves with biographies and conspiracy theories.
“We will stick to the records.
“Before counting Atiku’s $1.2 million, account for your own $9 million arrangement.
“And before abusing the messenger, answer the $460,000 question.
“The rest is noise,” he said.
Mr Shaibu, who served as Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to Mr Atiku when he was vice president between 1999 and 2007, concluded the statement by declaring: “Tinubu made Nigeria expensive. Atiku will make Nigeria affordable again.”
