Bola Tinubu has hired lobbyists in the United States to help convince lawmakers and policymakers that he carries acceptable personal probity to lead Nigeria.
According to a report by Peoples Gazette , it was learnt that after suffering a reputational hit that followed reports of his involvement in illicit drug peddling and certificate fraud.
Tinubu engaged public relations experts, including David Spaulding of Lenape Legal, based in a sleepy Philadelphia suburb, to help his administration navigate Washington’s concerns about his unsavoury public profile, The Gazette learned via documents and sources familiar.
The Nigerian leader deemed the hirings necessary after evaluating the impact widespread coverage of his narcotics and certificate saga had on his prestige before his foreign counterparts, a senior administration official said under anonymity to discuss the Tinubu’s key vulnerability.
Mr Spaulding’s firm indicated it started work in April 2024, a few months after Nigerians’ interest in the scandal peaked and the Supreme Court said it was insufficient to truncate Tinubu’s nascent tenure.
“The president feels that the bad stories are impeding his ability to govern,” the official at the justice ministry said. “Look, I mean, some of us know they look down on him like a pariah, which is unfair.”
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“You can see the president taking pictures with world leaders, but no one answers his calls to discuss social and economic issues affecting Nigeria, which is what he actually needs,” the official added.
Tinubu has attended summits of global leaders in France, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia, among others, but those invitations were largely statutory for Nigeria as Africa’s most populous and largest economy.
What Tinubu really wanted, the aide said, was to be given special foreign policy concessions, similar to how Nigeria scored big under former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.
His attempt to flex international muscle months after assuming office ended in humiliation after the Emiratis repudiated key prongs of an agreement he purportedly locked in following a meeting in Abu Dhabi in September 2023.
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