A $1.2 million contract between Atiku Abubakar and a Washington lobbying firm has been thrust back into the 2027 campaign after the Presidency accused the former vice-president of buying a foreign media campaign.

United States Foreign Agents Registration Act filings show Atiku’s camp retained Von Batten-Montague-York for 12 months. The publicly described work includes reputation advice in the United States and efforts to “counterbalance” Nigerian government narratives in Washington.

The Nation and aides around President Bola Tinubu have framed the deal as a risky gamble: paying an American firm to recycle old controversies and present speculation as inside information. Special Adviser Sunday Dare called the firm’s recent statements a partisan stunt, not an intelligence leak.

The lobbyists have claimed they helped block a hoped-for meeting between Tinubu and Donald Trump and have talked up setbacks for a separate, larger Nigerian government lobbying effort in Washington. Those claims are the firm’s own. They have not been independently verified by the White House.

Hiring US lobbyists is not unique to Atiku. Reporting has also pointed to a far larger Nigerian government retainer in Washington, often cited around $9 million, after earlier rows over insecurity and US policy. Both sides are taking the 2027 fight to Capitol Hill.

What the filings prove is money and a mandate. What they do not prove is that either camp controls American policy. The political fight at home is over whether courting Washington is statesmanship or an attempt to import a verdict Nigerian voters have not given.