You’d be rotting in jail if you were Chinese,’ Presidency blast Atiku over petitions to Trump

The Presidency has criticised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over reports that he hired a United States lobbying firm to raise President Bola Tinubu’s decades-old civil forfeiture case before US President Donald Trump and the US State Department.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the remarks in a statement issued on Thursday, accusing Atiku of spending about $1.2 million on American lobbyists to revive an issue the Federal Government maintains was settled decades ago.

According to Onanuga, the move amounted to an attempt to internationalise Nigeria’s domestic politics and undermine the country’s sovereignty.

He alleged that the lobbying firm submitted petitions to President Trump and the US State Department over Tinubu’s 1993 civil forfeiture proceedings despite the absence of any criminal conviction against the Nigerian leader.

“It is baffling and disappointing that someone who has sought the presidency for over three decades now resorts to reporting the President of Nigeria to US President Donald Trump and members of the US Congress,” Onanuga said.

He maintained that the matter had been resolved more than 30 years ago in the United States and had since been subjected to legal scrutiny.

“This issue was resolved over 30 years ago in the United States and has been thoroughly litigated, explained and rendered moot by the electoral mandates conferred on President Bola Tinubu by the people of Lagos and Nigeria at large. Reviving it today is an affront to the intelligence of Nigerians and an attempt to rewrite history for personal gain,” he added.

The presidential spokesman stressed that Nigeria is a sovereign nation and argued that taking complaints about its President to a foreign government was inappropriate and detrimental to the country’s image.

“It is important to remind Atiku and his associates that Nigeria is a sovereign nation, not a satellite of any foreign power. Reporting the President of Nigeria to another country’s leader is not only inappropriate but also undermines the nation’s dignity and independence,” he said.

Onanuga also challenged Atiku to address allegations surrounding his own legal history in the United States. He claimed the former vice president featured in the William Jefferson bribery scandal and was among those referenced in a 2010 US Senate investigation into foreign corruption.

He further criticised Atiku’s role during the privatisation programme under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.

“A man with such a dismal record as a public servant certainly has no business asking for our votes. Indeed, if Atiku Abubakar were Chinese, he would be rotting away in jail for his crimes against the Nigerian people,” Onanuga stated.

The Presidency also said President Tinubu remained focused on governance and would not be distracted by political attacks.

According to Onanuga, the President is committed to implementing his Renewed Hope Agenda, stabilising the economy, attracting investment, improving security and strengthening Nigeria’s global standing.

The Presidency’s reaction followed comments made on Wednesday by Atiku’s media aide, Paul Ibe, who claimed that President Trump had been informed of court documents relating to Tinubu’s alleged past legal records in the United States.

In a post on X, Ibe said more than 60 pages of US Department of Justice documents relating to allegations of heroin trafficking investigations and the forfeiture of $460,000 had been forwarded to Trump through Washington-based lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York.

He, however, did not provide evidence that Trump had personally received the documents or that the US administration had acted on them.

The lobbying firm had earlier confirmed that it was distributing over 60 pages of Department of Justice records, court filings, affidavits and judicial decisions relating to Tinubu’s civil forfeiture case to officials within the Trump administration and members of the US Congress.

Reports indicated that the firm was retained in March 2026 under a one-year lobbying agreement linked to Atiku.

Tinubu’s civil forfeiture records became a major issue after the 2023 presidential election when Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi argued before the Presidential Election Petition Court that the proceedings should have disqualified Tinubu from contesting the election.

However, the tribunal dismissed the claim, ruling that the forfeiture proceedings were civil rather than criminal in nature and therefore did not amount to a criminal conviction.

The court also held that there was insufficient evidence to establish that Tinubu submitted false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by failing to disclose the proceedings.

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