Atiku Abubakar’s camp has responded to the Presidency’s criticism of a US-based lobbyist linked to the former vice president, saying the government is avoiding the main issues.
Phrank Shaibu, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku, said the Presidency should focus on records and documents in the United States instead of questioning the background of lobbyist Karl Von Batten.
His reaction followed comments by President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, who questioned Atiku’s relationship with the American lobbyist.
Shaibu argued that the dispute was not really about Von Batten.
He said attention should instead be directed to documents available in the US, including a civil forfeiture case involving $460,000 in an account bearing Tinubu’s name.
Shaibu stressed that the forfeiture case should not be described as a criminal conviction but said the lack of a criminal conviction does not erase the court records.
“The documents are there,” he said.
The Atiku camp also defended the former vice president’s reported $1.2 million lobbying deal in the US.
Shaibu said Atiku’s engagement with Von Batten-Montague-York was registered with the US Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). He said this meant the details of the arrangement and payments were publicly disclosed.
He then questioned the Federal Government’s own lobbying expenses in Washington.
According to Shaibu, the Tinubu administration hired DCI Group for $750,000 per month, amounting to $4.5 million over six months. He added that provisions in the agreement could increase the total value to about $9 million.
Shaibu questioned why lobbying should be criticised when it involves Atiku but defended when the Federal Government engages in similar activities.
“If Atiku’s $1.2m for an entire year is evidence of desperation, what exactly should Nigerians call Tinubu’s arrangement of up to $9m?” Shaibu asked.
He accused the Presidency of using Von Batten’s personal background as a distraction from the issues raised by the documents.
According to him, the debate should not centre on the lobbyist’s marriage, ancestry, name or business history, but on what the available records show.
Shaibu also called on the Tinubu administration to focus more on the problems affecting Nigerians.
He said Nigerians were more concerned about the rising cost of food, transportation and electricity, falling purchasing power and insecurity than political exchanges between the government and opposition.
The Atiku camp challenged the Presidency to explain its own lobbying expenses in Washington before criticising the opposition for similar engagements.
