Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Tinubu got good bargain from U.S. lobbyists, washing his image should cost more than $2.7 million: Aisha Yesufu

“From certificate forgery to drug dealing — only one person,” she said.

• January 13, 2025
President Bola Tinubu and Aisha Yesufu
President Bola Tinubu and Aisha Yesufu

Social activist Aisha Yesufu says President Bola Tinubu got a bargain after it was revealed that the Nigerian leader paid $2.7 million to U.S. lobbyists to help burnish his image following certificate forgery and drug dealing scandals that marred his early days in office.

“They are actually very cheap — for them to collect only $2.7 million. I would have expected them to collect nothing less than $5 million because his (Tinubu) is really down,” Ms Yesufu while responding to the Peoples Gazette exclusive report on the payment.

The Gazette had last week exclusively reported how Mr Tinubu paid $2.7 million to several public relation experts, including David Spaulding of Lenape Legal, based in a sleepy Philadelphia suburb, to salvage his reputation among decision-makers in Washington.

Ms Aisha argued that the $2.7 million is nowhere enough to clean the image of Mr Tinubu, adding that it is shocking for only one person to be involved in such magnitude of legal issues

“From certificate forgery to drug dealing — only one person,” she said.

The report said that Mr Tinubu deemed the hirings necessary after evaluating the impact widespread coverage of his narcotics and certificate saga had on his prestige before his foreign counterparts.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Gov Ododo

States

Tinubu advised me never to negotiate with criminals, Gov Ododo says

“I don’t play with criminals, and I don’t negotiate with them. I can tell you that, as far as Kogi State is concerned, we don’t have a department for ransom payment,” he said.

Pete Hegseth

Heading 1

U.S. has spent $37.5 billion on Iran war: Hegseth

“The estimate we have as of today is $37.5 billion,” Mr Hegseth said.

Toba Ajiboye

Lagos

Slain Lagos NURTW organising secretary buried amid tears

Mr Ajiboye died days after he was attacked by gunmen.

Migrants' boat

Africa

144 refugees, migrants dead, missing off Mauritania coast: UNHCR

“The refugees and migrants were reported dead or missing after attempting the perilous sea journey from West Africa towards Europe,” the agency said.

Daniel Ortega and Marco Rubio

World

U.S. govt condemns Ortega’s ban on elections in Nicaragua 

Mr Rubio urged the international community to rise against Mr Ortega’s dictatorship.

Oleksandr Syrskyi

World

Zelensky sacks Ukraine’s top general after firing defence minister

Mr Syrskyi’s dismissal came days after Mr Zelensky fired Ukraine’s defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, a decision that sparked protests across the country.