Atiku’s $1.2m US Lobbying Deal Sparks Fresh Row Over 2027 Political Campaign

• President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of deploying a $1.2 million Washington lobbying arrangement to advance his political interests ahead of the 2027 general election.

• Dare said documents filed under the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) showed that Atiku contracted Washington-based Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. under a 12-month retainer, alleging that the firm’s activities amounted to partisan political advocacy rather than an independent assessment of affairs in Nigeria.

• The presidential aide also dismissed recent claims attributed to Dr Karl-Marx Edward Okeke-Von Batten concerning alleged classified United States intelligence on Nigeria, insisting that the claims were unsupported by publicly available evidence and should not be presented as the position of the US government.

• The development has further intensified the political confrontation between the Tinubu administration and opposition forces ahead of 2027, with the Presidency accusing the opposition of seeking foreign validation instead of presenting Nigerians with a coherent alternative policy agenda.

September 01, () — The Presidency has launched a fresh attack on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s emerging 2027 political strategy, accusing the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate of spending millions of dollars on Washington lobbying and media activities to undermine the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, made the allegations in a statement in which he described recent reports attributed to a Washington-based consultant as politically motivated claims being packaged as sensitive United States intelligence.

Dare alleged that Atiku had engaged Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., a Washington, D.C.-based advisory and lobbying firm, on a $1.2 million, 12-month retainer.

He said publicly available filings under the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act showed the Nigerian political connection to the firm, arguing that the arrangement raised questions about the political nature of the information and media campaign emanating from Washington.

Although, the presidential aide did not provide in his statement an independent assessment of the alleged $1.2 million payment beyond his reference to FARA filings, reports that the statement came amid renewed controversy over reports concerning alleged historical US government records and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) files relating to President Tinubu, as well as ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) proceedings in the United States.

Dare dismissed the reports as an attempt to give political speculation the appearance of classified intelligence. According to him, the reports contain neither an identified intelligence document nor named Western officials or documentary evidence establishing that confidential US intelligence concerning Nigeria had been obtained or released.

“Peddling political speculation as classified information” was how Dare characterised the development, accusing the opposition of relying on sensational claims and foreign-based political messaging rather than engaging the administration on policy.

He challenged those behind the reports to produce the alleged “highly classified intelligence report”, identify their unnamed sources and provide documentary evidence to substantiate the allegations.

FARA Filings

Dare said the Foreign Agents Registration Act filings provided the clearest indication of the nature of the Washington operation, arguing that the documents identified Von Batten-Montague-York as a commercial lobbying and advisory firm working for a Nigerian principal.

He alleged that the firm’s mandate included efforts to “counterbalance” narratives emanating from the Nigerian government and to use historical US legal records in a manner that could generate political leverage ahead of the 2027 elections.

The presidential aide also questioned the description of Karl-Marx Edward Okeke-Von Batten as a “Senior Government Advisor”, describing him instead as a commercial lobbyist and founder of Von Batten-Montague-York.

Dare said Okeke-Von Batten, whom he identified as a US-based consultant of Nigerian origin, had also been known by other names, including Ikemefuna Okeke and Karl Von Batten. He accused the consultant of attempting to project himself as having privileged access to the US administration, including President Donald Trump, while making claims about the release of FBI records.

Dare further alleged that Okeke-Von Batten had no role in the ongoing US court proceedings involving the disputed records.

“The case has been active since 2023, and the FBI’s main concern is simply the protection of the techniques by which it gathers information and the safety of its sources,” he said.

The presidential aide warned that attempts to interfere with an ongoing judicial process could attract legal consequences, while urging the US courts and law enforcement agencies to continue handling the matter according to their statutory responsibilities.

FOIA Proceedings

The controversy centres partly on requests under the US Freedom of Information Act seeking access to historical records held by American federal agencies.

Dare cited recent comments by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Wole Afolabi, during an appearance on MEDIA TODAY, arguing that the legal efforts to withhold portions of the records were consistent with US laws protecting confidential investigative processes.

According to Dare, Afolabi’s explanation contradicted the political narrative that the withholding of certain records was designed to protect President Tinubu from damaging information. He argued that if President Tinubu had been criminally liable under US law in connection with any historical investigation, American authorities would have had the opportunity to indict and prosecute him at the time.

The presidential aide maintained that ongoing FOIA litigation should therefore not be conflated with claims that the US government had established criminal wrongdoing against the Nigerian President.

Tinubu’s Trip

Dare also rejected attempts to link President Tinubu’s current European trip with the US FOIA proceedings. He said the President was on a previously scheduled annual leave and insisted that there was no connection between the trip and the litigation involving historical US government records.

According to him, attempts to associate the President’s movements with the court proceedings represented an effort to create a political narrative around unrelated events.

He described the claims being circulated as containing “falsehoods, contradictions, anonymous claims, and total absence of documentary evidence.”

The latest confrontation comes as Nigerian political parties and presidential aspirants gradually position themselves for the 2027 general elections.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the ADC in the 2027 General Elections, has remained one of the most prominent opposition figures challenging the Tinubu administration. The former Vice President has repeatedly criticised the Federal Government’s economic policies, particularly the removal of petrol subsidy, foreign exchange reforms, inflation and the broader cost-of-living crisis.

The Presidency, however, has defended the reforms as necessary measures to stabilise the economy, attract investment and correct structural weaknesses inherited by the administration.

Dare argued that the opposition had failed to present Nigerians with a sufficiently coherent alternative economic programme, accusing political opponents of oscillating between criticism of reforms and populist opposition to measures they had previously recognised as necessary. He described the reported Washington campaign as part of what he portrayed as a broader attempt to shift political debate away from domestic policy and toward allegations based on decades-old US legal records.

The presidential aide said the 2027 contest would ultimately be determined by Nigerians through the ballot box and argued that foreign lobbying could not substitute for grassroots political organisation, policy credibility or measurable performance.