Atiku To Presidency: Investigating Von Batten’ll Not Erase $460,000 Forfeiture

The candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2027 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, said President Bola Tinubu’s investigation of the records Karl Von Batten, team leader of his American lobbying firm, will not erase the president’s alleged $460,000 forfeiture record.

Atiku in a statement by Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said Von Batten-Montague-York he engaged for $1.2 million, voluntarily registered with the United States Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), clearly stating the nature of the engagement, its duration and compensation.

He faulted the presidency for attacking him over the cost of his engagement of a Washington lobbyist group while saying nothing about Tinubu’s more expensive lobbying arrangement.

Atiku noted that the president entered into an arrangement with DCI Group worth $750,000 per month, which he calculated to amount to $4.5 million for the first six months, with contractual provisions capable of taking the engagement to $9 million.

This, Atiku described as hypocrisy, stating that while Tinubu calls the millions he spent on lobbying his Washington firm, diplomacy, he accused Atiku of desperation for engaging Von Batten for $1.2 million over a whole year.

“If Atiku’s $1.2 million is evidence of desperation, what exactly should Nigerians call your own arrangement capable of reaching $9 million? National distress?” he asked.

The ADC candidate said the issue was not whether either side had the right to engage lobbyists, but the hypocrisy of Tinubu attempting to scandalise an activity his own administration had pursued on a far greater financial scale.

“President Tinubu is entitled to engage lobbyists. Atiku is equally entitled to engage lobbyists. Washington does not belong to the Nigerian presidency.

“The embarrassment is watching an administration associated with a multimillion-dollar Washington lobbying arrangement climb onto a moral pedestal to lecture its political opponent about lobbying,” Atiku stated.

The former vice president described the attacks on Karl Von Batten’s personal history as a diversion from questions Tinubu would rather avoid.

“President Tinubu can mock the man. Investigate his marriage. Trace his ancestry. Count his clients. Inspect his socks if that helps.

“But when all that is finished, the $460,000 forfeiture record will still be there. The multimillion-dollar lobbying arrangement will still be there.

“That is the problem with documents: they do not respond to insults,” Atiku said.

According to him, Nigerians would be better served if Tinubu devoted the same energy to explaining why life had become increasingly unaffordable under his administration.

“Nigerians want to know 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.

“They cannot eat presidential press releases. They cannot fuel their cars with insults. They cannot pay school fees with investigations into another man’s family tree,” he added.

Atiku stated that President Tinubu should explain why an administration supposedly performing wonders at home requires a multimillion-dollar lobbying machine in Washington to explain those wonders to foreigners.

“President Tinubu, before counting Atiku’s $1.2 million, account for your own $9 million arrangement.

“And before attacking the messenger, answer the $460,000 question,” Atiku demanded.