A civil society group, Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy, has challenged President Bola Tinubu to make public the source of the $2.7 million spent in hiring U.S. lobbyists to burnish his image over his alleged involvement in drug trafficking and certificate forgery.

“More than 24 hours after a whistle-blower exposed the plans of the Tinubu government to hire a foreign lobbyist to burnish the image of President Bola Tinubu, the presidency has yet to respond to the story,” the group noted in a statement signed by Ifeanyi Okechukwu.

Peoples Gazette had uncovered how Mr Tinubu sought the service of lobbyists in the United States to help convince lawmakers and policymakers that he exemplifies acceptable personal honesty to lead Nigeria, after suffering a reputation blow following reports of his involvement in drug peddling and certificate fraud. 

Mr Tinubu engaged public relations experts, including David Spaulding of Lenape Legal, domiciled in a sleepy Philadelphia suburb, to help his administration navigate Washington’s concerns about his unpalatable public profile.

The civil society group noted that despite sufficient documented evidence indicting Mr Tinubu, “the federal government had not publicly addressed the issue,” noting that the president’s alleged involvement in drug trafficking “continues to hurt the image of Nigeria internationally”.

“There have been several outrages within and outside Nigeria bordering on President Tinubu’s documented history as a drug dealer. Recall that the culpability of the President in his indictment in a Chicago High Court in the United States of America is one of the grounds upon which his election was challenged in the 2023 elections,” the group noted.

The group further condemned Mr Tinubu’s indulgence in several foreign trips at the expense of Nigeria’s ailing economy, claiming such had not resulted in any positive results for the country.

It stated,  “Since assuming office in May 2023, President Tinubu had committed more time to foreign travels than any of those before him with little justification to show for the president’s offshore meeting resulting in reduction of Foreign Direct Investment under his tenure so far.”

The group charged Mr Tinubu to clarify the source of the monies spent in image burnishing, wondering if the president’s latest step would obliterate his records of indictment.

“But since the Tinubu administration has now resulted in burnishing the image of the President, it is pertinent to ask the government if there is anything else that the Nigerian public needs to know, first about the truth and nothing but the truth about the President’s documented indictment and, second, about the source of funding the public image contractor hired for the job,” the group stated.

It added, “Acknowledging that the Supreme Court’s judgement on the electability of President Tinubu on account of the documented indictment on drug trafficking did not substantially rule on the merit of the case but selected the President on technical grounds, would the image laundering drive make the President electable in 2027 in such a way that crime of the past would be forgotten and never-to-be-mentioned ever again?”