Tinubu’s Aide to Atiku: You’ll Never Forget 2027 Defeat

President Bola Tinubu’s media aide, Dada Olusegun, has predicted a heavy defeat for Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election.

The Presidency accused Atiku’s camp of using US-based lobbying and old intelligence records to attack Tinubu ahead of the election.

The administration challenged the opposition to focus on policy alternatives rather than allegations concerning the President’s past.

The Presidency has intensified its criticism of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2027 presidential election, warning that the opposition politician would suffer a defeat he would not forget.

President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, issued the warning in a post on X while reacting to the growing political exchanges between the Presidency and Atiku’s camp.

“He will never forget it,” Olusegun wrote, referring to the outcome he predicted for Atiku in the next presidential election.

The latest exchange comes amid a wider dispute over reports linked to a Washington-based lobbying firm and alleged United States intelligence findings concerning Tinubu.

The Presidency has dismissed the reports as fabricated and politically motivated, accusing opposition figures of using foreign-based media activities to create damaging narratives against the administration ahead of the 2027 election.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, described the reports as a “clinical demonstration of desperation”.

Dare alleged that Atiku had engaged Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., a Washington-based lobbying firm, on a $1.2 million, 12-month retainer to challenge the Nigerian government’s narratives and use historical American legal records for political purposes.

He challenged those promoting the allegations to release the purported classified intelligence report, identify the Western officials allegedly behind the claims and provide documentary evidence supporting the assertions.

According to Dare, the reports contained neither classified intelligence documents nor statements from identified US officials linking Nigeria’s political affairs to any alleged intelligence assessment.

He also questioned the authority of Dr Karl-Marx Edward Okeke-Von Batten, whom he described as a commercial lobbyist rather than a representative of the US government.

“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,” Dare said.

The Presidency also rejected claims that Tinubu’s recent foreign trip was connected to legal proceedings in the United States involving requests for the release of historical Federal Bureau of Investigation records.

Dare said the President was on a previously scheduled annual leave, insisting that there was “absolutely no connection” between the trip and the ongoing Freedom of Information Act proceedings.

He said the legal process, which he noted had been ongoing since 2023, concerned issues relating to investigative methods and the protection of confidential sources.

The presidential aide urged political actors to allow the proceedings to run their course instead of turning them into weapons in the 2027 political contest.

Dare further referenced comments by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Wole Afolabi on Channels Television, saying the lawyer had explained that restrictions on some historical US records were based on established American laws protecting confidential investigative processes and sources.

He argued that if Tinubu had been found criminally liable under US law during previous investigations, American authorities would have taken appropriate legal action at the time.

The Presidency consequently accused opposition politicians of repeatedly reviving decades-old American records as part of their campaign strategy.

Dare urged the opposition to present Nigerians with concrete alternatives on the economy, infrastructure, agriculture and industrial development rather than concentrating on allegations surrounding Tinubu’s past.

He said the Tinubu administration would remain focused on economic and institutional reforms, infrastructure and other policies, adding that Nigerians would ultimately judge the government at the ballot box.

Atiku, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, is now associated with the African Democratic Congress, one of the opposition platforms preparing to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress in 2027.