Retired American mental health counsellor, Jeffrey Guterman, has said the lobbying effort initiated by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over President Bola Tinubu’s alleged past US forfeiture case will not prevent the President from winning the 2027 general election.

Guterman made the remark in a post on his X handle on Thursday while reacting to reports that Washington-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., engaged by Atiku, had begun sharing documents relating to alleged Tinubu’s long-running US forfeiture case with officials in the administration of President Donald Trump, members of Congress and congressional staff.

According to the firm, it is distributing records from the US Department of Justice concerning allegations linked to a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding involving funds connected to Tinubu.

DAILY POST reports that Atiku reportedly hired the lobbying firm in March under a 12-month contract valued at $1.2 million to undertake advocacy, diplomatic outreach and present his perspectives on issues concerning Nigeria-US relations.

Reacting, Guterman argued that the lobbying effort would have little impact on the outcome of Nigeria’s next presidential election.

He wrote: “Let’s be honest with ourselves. The U.S. lobbying effort to reveal Nigeria President Tinubu’s drug trafficking will do nothing. He will probably win in 2027 due to propaganda news on Tinubu.

“I affirm that Tinubu will win in 2027 unless on election day rigging and violence, like there was in 2023, is stopped.”

Earlier, Paul Ibe, an aide to Atiku, claimed that President Trump had been made aware of court documents relating to Tinubu’s past legal records in the United States.

In a post on X, Ibe alleged that Tinubu’s 60-page US Department of Justice files on alleged heroin trafficking and the forfeiture of $460,000 had been brought to Trump’s attention through the lobbying firm, Batten Von.

He maintained that Nigerians deserved to know the full details of the matter.

However, former lawmaker, Shehu Sani, criticised Atiku’s decision to engage a US lobbying firm to circulate documents relating to Tinubu’s past forfeiture case.

Sani described the move as unconscionable and unpatriotic.

He warned that involving foreign lobby groups against Nigeria’s President could damage the country’s international reputation, deepen global distrust of Nigerians and expose the country to sanctions or visa restrictions.

He also argued that the opposition should pursue political change through democratic processes within Nigeria rather than seeking foreign intervention.

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has described the All Progressives Congress, APC’s use of consensus for governorship primaries, especially in Ogun State, as “extortion” and “plutocracy” that undermines democracy.

Falana spoke on Thursday at the 8th Penpushing Annual Lecture held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, themed“Restoring Electoral Integrity: The Path to Good Governance and Public Accountability.”

He argued that electoral integrity cannot exist without transparent party primaries.  

“Please, let us stop deceiving ourselves. If you are going to talk about electoral integrity, you must start with the primaries,” he said.  

According to him, consensus arrangements deny party members the right to freely choose their candidates, even though the Electoral Act allows both direct and consensus methods.

The SAN also raised alarm over what he called growing threats to Nigeria’s multi-party system, warning that deregistering political parties and blocking others from elections could trigger a political crisis.  

“Political exclusion has historically encouraged undemocratic forces to undermine democratic institutions across Africa,” Falana said.

He further condemned the monetisation of politics, citing the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, who alleged that some governorship aspirants spent between ₦20 billion and ₦30 billion during primaries.  

“If you are spending between ₦20 billion and ₦30 billion on a primary election, how much are you going to spend in the real election?” he asked.  

Falana alleged that such huge sums could not have come from legitimate sources, and that the practice promotes corruption and weakens democracy.

He called for urgent reforms to strengthen internal party democracy, curb the commercialisation of politics, and preserve the integrity of Nigeria’s democratic process.