The Presidency has dismissed reports emanating from a Washington-based lobbying firm concerning President Bola Tinubu and alleged United States intelligence findings were largely fabricated, politically motivated and unsupported by evidence.
Politics Nigeria reports that the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, said the reports were part of a coordinated media campaign sponsored by former vice president and presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Dare, in a statement issued on Tuesday, described the development as “a clinical demonstration of desperation,” accusing the opposition camp of attempting to secure foreign validation for what he called a weak domestic political agenda.
He noted that Atiku had engaged the Washington-based firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., funder a $1.2 million, 12-month retainer. According to him, the arrangement was intended to counter narratives of the Nigerian government and exploit historical legal records for political purposes ahead of the 2027 elections.
“The incendiary press releases being carefully churned out from Washington are public relations propaganda sheets passed off as the view of the U.S. Government. They are not,” Dare said.
The presidential aide challenged those behind the reports to produce the alleged “highly classified intelligence report,” identify the unnamed sources cited in the claims and provide documentary evidence supporting the allegations.
He said the reports contained neither intelligence documents nor statements from identified Western officials linking Nigeria’s affairs to any classified U.S. government assessment.
Dare, a former minister of Sports, also questioned the credentials and role of Dr. Karl-Marx Edward Okeke-Von Batten, who he described as a commercial lobbyist and founder of Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., rather than an official representative of the U.S. government.
He argued that statements attributed to Okeke-Von Batten should not be interpreted as the position of President Donald Trump, the U.S. administration or American intelligence agencies.
“Dr. Karl Von Batten’s comments represent solely the position of an individual associated with Atiku-linked political interests, not the U.S. government or President Trump,” he said.
The Presidency also rejected attempts to link President Tinubu’s current movements to ongoing legal proceedings in the United States involving requests for the release of historical Federal Bureau of Investigation records.
Dare said Tinubu was on a previously scheduled annual leave and that there was “absolutely no connection” between the President’s European trip and the ongoing U.S. Freedom of Information Act proceedings.
He further maintained that the U.S. court proceedings, which have been ongoing since 2023, concern legal issues surrounding the protection of investigative techniques and confidential sources.
According to him, the proceedings should be allowed to run their course without political interference.
Dare also referenced recent comments by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Wole Afolabi, on Channels Television concerning FOIA requests for historical records held by U.S. federal agencies.
He said Afolabi had explained that efforts to withhold portions of the records were based on established U.S. legal provisions protecting confidential investigative processes, rather than an attempt to shield Tinubu from incriminating information.
The presidential aide argued that if Tinubu had been criminally liable under U.S. law during previous investigations, American authorities would have prosecuted him at the time.
He accused the opposition of recycling decades-old U.S. legal records as part of what he described as a political strategy ahead of the 2027 elections.
Dare further attacked the opposition’s political agenda, arguing that its campaign had failed to present Nigerians with a credible alternative on economic policy, infrastructure, agriculture and industrial development.
He accused the opposition of abandoning substantive policy debate in favour of what he described as “muckraking, emotional manipulation, and ethnic polarization.”
According to him, the Tinubu administration remains focused on fiscal reforms, infrastructure development and institutional reforms, insisting that the President’s record and future policy proposals would ultimately be judged by Nigerians at the ballot box.
“True democratic validation is earned through the ballot box and tangible service delivery to the citizens at home, not through manufactured headlines bought and paid for in foreign currency,” Dare said.
He maintained that foreign lobbying and media campaigns could not determine Nigeria’s political future, insisting that the 2027 elections would ultimately be decided by domestic political organisation, policy credibility and the performance of political parties before the Nigerian electorate.