Presidency Fires Back at Atiku Over Alleged $1.2m US Lobbying Contract

The Presidency has criticised the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, over reports that he hired a United States lobbying firm for $1.2 million ahead of the 2027 general election.

Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, said Nigerians were more interested in Atiku’s record than what he described as attempts to internationalise domestic politics.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Dare accused the former vice-president of seeking foreign support to discredit a sitting Nigerian president, describing the move as an affront to the country’s sovereignty.

According to him, Atiku’s reported engagement of a US lobbying firm to advance petitions against President Tinubu reflected a lack of confidence in Nigeria’s democratic institutions.

“Worse still, for a man who presumes to offer leadership to Africa’s most populous nation, his recent resort to grievance offshoring, outsourcing political warfare to Washington and reportedly paying $1.2 million to an American lobbying firm to peddle petitions against a sitting Nigerian President, stands as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and a vote of no confidence in its democratic institutions,” Dare said.

The presidential aide argued that the reported lobbying effort also undermined the work of Nigerian journalists, academics, policy analysts and public intellectuals who have contributed to the country’s democratic development over the years.

Dare further described Atiku as a politician whose ambition had overshadowed sound judgment.

“The Atiku Abubakar of today cuts a pitiable figure, a grotesque portrait of what a politician becomes when ambition overwhelms judgment and every political faculty becomes programmed for self-destruction,” he stated.

He maintained that Nigerians deserved to assess Atiku’s performance and political history rather than focus on foreign lobbying activities.

“No, Atiku cannot take Nigeria down that path with him. He must travel it alone. But first, Nigerians deserve Atiku Abubakar’s report card. Charity, they say, begins at home, not in Washington,” Dare added.

The presidential spokesman also questioned Atiku’s democratic credentials, alleging that the former vice-president had presented conflicting political positions over the years.

“Nigerians deserve to know whether the Atiku Abubakar who has long presented himself as a democrat is, in reality, a politician of many colours,” he said.

The Presidency’s remarks come amid growing political exchanges between the Tinubu administration and opposition figures ahead of the 2027 general election.