Atiku Challenges Tinubu on $460,000 Forfeiture Issue

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has issued a challenge to President Bola Tinubu regarding a $460,000 forfeiture in the United States. This challenge arose in response to comments made by Sunday Dare, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, who criticized Atiku for hiring the U.S. lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York.

Atiku's Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, stated that the focus should be on the substantive issues raised by American judicial records rather than on Atiku's lobbyist. Shaibu emphasized that Atiku's engagement with the lobbying firm was publicly registered and not a secretive attempt to influence Washington.

He questioned why Tinubu's name appeared in U.S. federal narcotics and money-laundering records and urged Tinubu to clarify the circumstances surrounding the $460,000 forfeiture. Shaibu also pointed out that both politicians have the right to engage lobbyists and criticized the portrayal of Atiku's actions as desperate.