ÀBUJA – The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, has described former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s alleged $1.2m lobbying deal in the United States as a “desperate political gamble” ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Dare accused the opposition of attempting to use a Washington-based lobbying firm to create controversy around President Bola Tinubu and give political speculation the appearance of classified intelligence.
The presidential aide made the allegations in a statement titled, “Peddling Political Speculation as Classified Information: Atiku’s $1.2m Washington Lobbying Gamble Exposed.”
He said publicly available filings under the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act showed that Atiku contracted Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., a Washington-based firm, on a $1.2m, 12-month retainer.
Dare argued that the firm’s activities were political rather than an official representation of the United States government, saying reports attributed to its principal should not be presented as the position of the US government or President Donald Trump.
He challenged those behind the reports to produce what he described as the alleged “highly classified intelligence report” being referenced, as well as identify the unnamed sources and provide documentary evidence to support the allegations.
“The report presents no intelligence document, no named Western official, and no evidence of any exchange involving Nigeria’s secrets or resources. It is nothing more than political speculation packaged as classified information,” Dare said.
The presidential aide also dismissed claims linking Tinubu’s foreign trip to ongoing legal proceedings in the United States, saying the President was on a previously scheduled annual leave.
Dare said the ongoing Freedom of Information Act proceedings in the US were unrelated to the President’s movements, adding that the case had been active since 2023.
He further accused Dr Karl-Marx Edward Okeke-Von Batten, whom he described as the principal of the lobbying firm, of presenting himself as a senior government adviser despite operating as a commercial lobbyist.
According to Dare, statements issued by the lobbyist should therefore be treated as the views of a private individual associated with Atiku-linked interests and not those of the US administration.
The presidential aide also referred to recent comments by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Wole Afolabi, on Channels Television concerning requests for the release of historical records held by US federal agencies.
Dare said Afolabi’s explanation showed that the withholding of portions of the records was based on US legal provisions protecting confidential investigative processes and sources, rather than an attempt to shield Tinubu from damaging information.
He added that if the President had been criminally liable under US law in connection with past investigations, the appropriate American authorities would have prosecuted him at the time.
Dare said the controversy was an attempt by the opposition to divert attention from what he described as the absence of a coherent policy agenda ahead of the 2027 election.
He accused the opposition of abandoning substantive debate on economic reforms and resorting to what he called “muckraking, emotional manipulation and ethnic polarisation.”
According to him, the Tinubu administration has continued to pursue fiscal reforms, infrastructure development and security-sector reforms despite the difficulties associated with the measures.
Dare said Nigerians would ultimately judge political parties and candidates based on their domestic policies, performance and ability to offer practical solutions to the country’s challenges.
“True democratic validation is earned through the ballot box and tangible service delivery to citizens at home, not through manufactured headlines bought and paid for in foreign currency,” he said.
The presidential aide urged the American judiciary and law enforcement agencies to continue handling their proceedings independently and without partisan interference.
He maintained that the 2027 election would be decided by Nigerian voters and not by foreign lobbyists, public relations campaigns or controversies generated outside the country.