The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has sharply criticised the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration over its reported $9 million lobbying contract in the United States, accusing the federal government of diverting scarce public resources to burnish its international image while Nigeria grapples with worsening security and economic crises.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the opposition party described the move as “image laundering,” arguing that the administration’s priorities are fundamentally misplaced at a time when millions of Nigerians are struggling to meet basic needs.
According to Abdullahi, no African government has ever committed what he called “such an obscene sum” to a short-term public relations exercise, especially in the face of widespread hardship.
“While the ADC recognises the importance of representing Nigeria’s interests internationally, spending $9 million on image management at a time when millions of Nigerians cannot afford food, fuel, or basic healthcare is a clear case of misplaced priorities and moral blindness,” he said.
The party further contended that the decision exposes deeper weaknesses in Nigeria’s foreign policy architecture, describing the lobbying contract as an implicit admission of diplomatic failure.
Abdullahi argued that instead of strengthening its diplomatic corps, the Tinubu administration has allowed key ambassadorial positions to remain vacant, only to turn around and outsource critical diplomatic engagement to foreign lobbyists.
“This decision is also an admission of diplomatic failure,” he stated. “A government that has left key ambassadorial positions vacant now seeks to outsource diplomacy to lobbyists, further weakening Nigeria’s institutional credibility and reducing foreign policy to transactional propaganda.”
The ADC maintained that Nigeria’s international standing cannot be salvaged through expensive public relations campaigns but through concrete actions that address insecurity, economic hardship and governance challenges at home.
The party urged the federal government to redirect public funds toward policies and interventions that directly improve the lives of Nigerians, insisting that genuine national progress, rather than image management abroad, remains the surest path to restoring confidence in the country.
