Atiku's Lobbyist Sends 60-Page DOJ Drug Tràffìckìng File on Tinubu to Trump Administration
- Washington lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York began distributing over 60 pages of DOJ documents on Tinubu to Trump officials and Congress
- The firm was hired by Atiku Abubakar in March 2025 under a 12-month, $1.2 million contract to counter the Nigerian government's lobbying efforts in the US
- The documents centre on a 1993 civil forfeiture case tied to a hèròìn tràffìckìng investigation in which Tinubu's name appeared in federal court records
A Washington-based lobbying firm hired by Atiku Abubakar has begun circulating US court documents on drug tràffìckìng allegations against President Bola Tinubu to officials in the Trump administration and US Congress.
Von Batten-Montague-York disclosed this in a post on X, noting that many within the US government had previously been unaware of the DOJ's allegations against Tinubu.
Source: Facebook
The firm said it intended to bring the full collection of court filings, a supporting affidavit, and related federal court decisions to Trump's attention.
"Following discussions with members of the @realDonaldTrump Administration, Congress, and senior congressional staff, we began providing more than 60 pages of @TheJusticeDept documents concerning the DOJ's allegations of Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's (@officialABAT) alleged involvement in a hèròìn tràffìckìng investigation spanning the late 1980s and early 1990s," the firm wrote on Monday, July 20.
Atiku, now the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, engaged the firm in March 2025 under a 12-month, $1.2 million contract.
The agreement covers reputational work in the US, facilitating meetings with American officials and legislators, and countering what the contract describes as the Nigerian government's lobbying narratives in Washington.
What the DOJ documents allege
The firm made public a background document detailing the 1993 case formally known as United States v. Funds in Account No. 263226700 et al., No. 93 C 4483, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The individuals named in the government's allegations were Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Adegboyega Mueez Akande, and Abiodun Agbele.
According to the document, federal investigators between 1988 and 1991 examined a Nigeria-based hèròìn tràffìckìng organisation that imported white hèròìn into the United States and distributed it through Chicago.
The government alleged that proceeds from the operation were deposited into US bank accounts owned and controlled by Tinubu.
Akande was described as a longtime acquaintance of Tinubu whom the DOJ alleged led the tràffìckìng organisation, and who the government said provided funds used to open one of the accounts. Agbele, who Tinubu said he met through Akande, was alleged to have soldhèròìn for the organisation before being arrested during a transaction with an undercover officer, after which he cooperated with federal investigators.
The case concluded through a negotiated civil forfeiture settlement in which a portion of the funds was forfeited to the United States.
Source: Getty Images
The background document also traced a 2023 Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by journalist Aaron Greenspan seeking related records from several federal agencies.
A US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in 2025 that the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration could not issue a blanket refusal to confirm or deny the existence of responsive records, ordering them to process the request. That litigation remains ongoing.
Nigeria's 2023 election court ruling
The 1993 forfeiture case was a central argument before Nigeria's Presidential Election Petition Court in 2023, where both Atiku Abubakar, then of the Peoples Democratic Party, and Labour Party candidate Peter Obi argued Tinubu should have been disqualified over the $460,000 civil forfeiture.
The court dismissed the argument, finding that the petitioners had not established a criminal conviction and that the forfeiture proceedings were civil in nature. The court also held that the evidence did not prove Tinubu submitted false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission by not disclosing the forfeiture.
Von Batten-Montague-York said the documents were being shared with House and Senate committees for "informational and oversight purposes," citing Nigeria's ties with the US and reports that Tinubu is seeking a meeting with Trump at the UN General Assembly.
Atiku seeks independent panel for PFIPC
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar rejected President Bola Tinubu's decision to order an ICPC investigation into the PFIPC controversy.
Atiku argued that assigning the probe to a government agency could not guarantee impartiality because the allegations involved public institutions and officials.
Source: Legit.ng
