President Bola Tinubu and former VP Atiku Abubakar
Media adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has defended the engagement of lobbyists in the United States, arguing that there is nothing inappropriate about the practice while renewing calls for the release of files relating to President Bola Tinubu by US authorities.
In a post published on his X account on Wednesday, Ibe was responding to former Kaduna Central senator, Shehu Sani, amid ongoing political exchanges over the reported use of lobbying firms in the United States.
According to Ibe, employing a lobbyist is not unusual, particularly in difficult political circumstances.
“There’s nothing wrong with hiring a lobbyist, especially when you are confronted with a dictatorship. Recall that 6 months ago, Tinubu splurged $9 million of Nigeria’s hard-earned money on a US lobby firm,” he wrote.
The presidential aide also revisited long-standing allegations surrounding President Tinubu’s past legal issues in the United States, insisting that Nigerians have a right to know the contents of files reportedly held by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“It is concerning that Nigeria’s President and the over 200 million citizens of the most populous black nation in the world are carrying a heavy burden: Bola Ahmed Tinubu is documented to have forfeited $460,000 to the US authorities for alleged involvement in heroin trafficking. Nothing else can be more damaging than this. Should we continue to cover it up? No. 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.”
He further accused Tinubu’s supporters of attempting to prevent the release of the documents.
“If Tinubu and later day allies like you have nothing to hide, then you will not be preoccupied with blocking every move to unravel the #TinubuUSFiles. After all, a clear conscience fears no accusation.”
Addressing Shehu Sani directly, Ibe also referred to an unresolved personal matter, linking it to the former senator’s tenure as chairman of the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on the humanitarian crisis in the North-East, which investigated the tenure of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.
“By the way, you and I have some unfinished business dating back to the days of your Chairmanship of the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North-East, which investigated, indicted, and recommended the prosecution of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal. Before you begin to holler ‘blackmail’, I will encourage you to honour your outstanding commitment to me. I don’t want it to be a subject of public discussion. It is important that we practice what we preach, most distinguished.”
The exchange is the latest in the continuing political debate surrounding the planned release of US records relating to President Tinubu, an issue that has generated renewed attention among political stakeholders and supporters of both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition.
