Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address the core allegations in his documented American records rather than hiding behind personal attacks and theatrical diversions. In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku accused the presidency of using distractions to evade answering critical, substantive questions regarding the controversy.

Atiku specifically criticized the recent response from presidential aide Sunday Dare, labeling it an attempt to change the subject rather than a valid rebuttal. Instead of addressing the facts, Dare allegedly resorted to attacking the marriage, ancestry, names, and business history of Karl Von Batten, the investigator linked to the case.

“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.

He noted that Atiku Abubakar’s $1.2 million contract with Von Batten-Montague-York was transparently registered with the United States Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), with the public filing explicitly detailing the scope, timeline, and exact financial compensation of the engagement.

“You cannot expose what was publicly disclosed. So, President Tinubu should stop chasing the messenger and answer the questions raised by the records.”

Shaibu asked why Tinubu’s name was connected to a historical United States federal narcotics and money-laundering investigation and why a United States District Court entered a decree forfeiting $460,000 held in an account in 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.

“Let us also be precise. A civil forfeiture is not a criminal conviction, and we have never said otherwise. But President Tinubu cannot abuse, mock or distract a court record out of existence.”

Shaibu said the hypocrisy became even more obvious when Tinubu began attacking Atiku over the cost of his Washington engagement while saying nothing about his own administration’s far more expensive lobbying arrangement.

According to him, the Tinubu administration entered into an arrangement with DCI Group worth $750,000 every month, amounting to $4.5 million for the first six months, with contractual provisions capable of taking the engagement to $9 million.

The arrangement was conducted through Aster Legal in connection with a senior federal security institution.

“So, President Tinubu, let us understand your new morality. 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.”

“If Atiku’s $1.2 million is evidence of desperation, what exactly should Nigerians call your own arrangement capable of reaching $9 million? National distress?”

Shaibu said the issue was not whether either side had the right to engage lobbyists, but the rank hypocrisy of Tinubu attempting to scandalise an activity his own administration had pursued on a far greater financial scale.

“President Tinubu is entitled to engage lobbyists. Atiku is equally entitled to engage lobbyists. Washington does not belong to the Nigerian Presidency.”

“The embarrassment is watching an administration associated with a multimillion-dollar Washington lobbying arrangement climb onto a moral pedestal to lecture its political opponent about lobbying.”

The statement described the attacks on Karl Von Batten’s personal history as a transparent diversion from questions Tinubu would rather avoid.

“President Tinubu can mock the man. Investigate his marriage. Trace his ancestry. Count his clients. Inspect his socks if that helps.

“But when all that is finished, the $460,000 forfeiture record will still be there. The multimillion-dollar lobbying arrangement will still be there.

“That is the problem with documents: they do not respond to insults.”

Shaibu said Nigerians would be better served if Tinubu devoted the same energy to explaining why life had become increasingly unaffordable under his administration.

“Nigerians want to know why food is expensive, why transportation is expensive, why electricity is expensive, why the naira buys less and why millions of families are struggling to survive.

“They cannot eat presidential press releases. They cannot fuel their cars with insults. They cannot pay school fees with investigations into another man’s family tree.”

The statement added that if Tinubu truly wanted the political conversation to be about domestic performance, Atiku was ready for that debate.