ABUJA, Nigeria — Former Kaduna Central senator Shehu Sani and Paul Ibe, media adviser to Nigeria’s former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, engaged in a public disagreement on Wednesday over the opposition’s hiring of a United States lobbying firm to push for the release of records concerning President Bola Tinubu.
Okay News reports that Washington-based lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., engaged by Atiku, began distributing United States Department of Justice records on alleged drug trafficking involving Tinubu to officials in the Donald Trump administration, members of the United States Congress, and senior congressional aides.
Reacting on his X account on Wednesday, Sani criticised the move, describing the engagement of foreign lobby groups as unpatriotic. Sani said, “Engaging US lobby groups to criminalise the President and his administration and curry favour from the US Government is unconscionable and unpatriotic.” He added, “It may not achieve its objectives but will undoubtedly damage the international reputation of the country, escalate global repudiation against our citizens and lead us into the traps of sanctions and visa restrictions.” Sani stated that opposition parties should pursue power domestically, saying, “The opposition should fight and struggle for power within the borders of our country. Seeking foreign help for regime change in a democratic setting is wrong.”
Responding shortly afterwards, Ibe defended the decision to retain a lobbying firm, saying, “There’s nothing wrong with hiring a lobbyist, especially when you are confronted with a dictatorship.” Ibe alleged that the Tinubu administration had previously spent public funds on lobbying in the United States, saying, “Recall that six months ago, Tinubu splurged $9 million of Nigeria’s hard-earned money on a US lobby firm.”
Ibe stated that citizens have a right to know the contents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice records regarding Tinubu’s past forfeiture of $460,000 to United States authorities over alleged drug trafficking. Ibe said, “Do Nigerians deserve to know what is in the FBI and DOJ files about Tinubu? Yes. Nigerians are entitled to know everything about their President or a prospective President.”
Ibe concluded his response with a remark directed at Sani regarding his chairmanship of an ad hoc committee in the Senate that investigated Nigeria’s former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal. Ibe said, “I will encourage you to honour your outstanding commitment to me. I don’t want it to be a subject of public discussion.”
