The camp of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has told President Bola Tinubu to stop attacking the character of lobbyist Karl Von Batten and instead address documented American court and government records that his opponents say raise serious questions. The challenge came in a statement released on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, by Phrank Shaibu, Atiku's Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, in response to remarks from the presidency delivered by Sunday Dare.
Atiku's Spokesman Dismisses Presidential Rebuttal
Shaibu said Dare's intervention did not amount to a rebuttal. Instead, he argued, it was a deliberate attempt to shift the conversation away from substance by targeting Von Batten's ancestry, marriage, name, and business background. "At this rate, perhaps the next response from the Presidency will tell Nigerians the colour of Karl Von Batten's socks and what he eats for breakfast. But after all the mockery, genealogy and amateur detective work, the documents will still be there," Shaibu said.
US Court Records at the Centre of the Row
The records at the centre of the row involve two specific issues. Shaibu said Atiku's $1.2 million engagement with the firm Von Batten-Montague-York was filed voluntarily with the United States Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and that all details of the arrangement were publicly disclosed from the outset. He then raised two specific questions about Tinubu. The first concerned why Tinubu's name appeared in connection with a historical US federal narcotics and money-laundering investigation. The second concerned a decree entered by a US District Court ordering the forfeiture of $460,000 held in an account bearing Tinubu's name.
"These are not documents written by Atiku Abubakar. They were not manufactured by Karl Von Batten. They form part of an American judicial record," Shaibu said, adding that while a civil forfeiture is not a criminal conviction, "President Tinubu cannot abuse, mock or distract a court record out of existence."
Atiku Camp Accuses Tinubu of Hypocrisy on Lobbying
Shaibu also turned the lobbying criticism back on the presidency. He said the Tinubu administration entered into an arrangement with the DCI Group worth $750,000 per month, totalling $4.5 million over the first six months, with contractual terms that could push the total to $9 million. The arrangement was reportedly conducted through a firm called Aster Legal on behalf of a senior federal security institution.
"When you spend millions lobbying Washington, it is diplomacy. When Atiku spends $1.2 million over an entire year, it becomes desperation. What magnificent hypocrisy," Shaibu said. He added that Nigerians deserved answers on the rising cost of food, transport, electricity, and the weakening purchasing power of the naira far more than they needed a presidential campaign against another man's lobbyist.
Atiku, the statement noted, is currently the presidential candidate of the New Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 general elections, having been ratified on May 29, 2026, after resigning from the African Democratic Congress on May 2, 2026.
