Atiku-hired US Lobbying Firm Submits Tinubu’s Forfeiture Records To Trump Administration, Congress

A Washington-based lobbying firm hired by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar says it has begun distributing documents relating to a long-standing United States forfeiture case involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to officials in the Donald Trump administration, members of Congress and congressional staff.

The firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., disclosed that it was sharing records from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) concerning allegations connected to a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding involving funds linked to Tinubu.

The lobbying firm was retained by Atiku, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, in March under a 12-month contract reportedly worth $1.2 million. The agreement covers advocacy, diplomatic engagement and efforts to present Atiku’s views on issues concerning Nigeria–United States relations.

In a post on X, the firm said it had held discussions with officials within the US government and congressional offices before providing more than 60 pages of DOJ documents and related court records.

According to the firm, some officials were previously unaware of the historical case, and the documents were provided to ensure relevant records were available for review.

“Following discussions with members of the Trump administration, Congress and senior congressional staff, we began providing more than 60 pages of Department of Justice documents concerning the DOJ’s allegations relating to Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s alleged involvement in a heroin trafficking investigation spanning the late 1980s and early 1990s,” the firm stated.

Among the documents circulated was a background chronology titled: “Background and Chronology of the 1993 U.S. Department of Justice Heroin-Proceeds Forfeiture Case and the 2023 FOIA Litigation Concerning Alleged Heroin Trafficking from Nigeria to the United States Involving Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the current President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

According to the chronology, the DOJ’s 1993 civil forfeiture action stemmed from an investigation into a suspected drug trafficking organisation operating between Nigeria and the United States.

The records referred to a case filed at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, identified as United States v. Funds in Account No. 263226700 et al., involving funds the government alleged were proceeds of narcotics trafficking or were connected to money laundering.

The documents named Tinubu, Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele as individuals identified in the government’s allegations.

The chronology stated that US investigators examined activities between 1988 and 1991 and alleged that proceeds from a drug trafficking network were deposited into bank accounts in the United States associated with Tinubu.

It further stated that the DOJ alleged Tinubu controlled multiple bank accounts and that some of the funds held in those accounts were linked to the proceeds of illegal activities.

The document also referred to Akande as an associate of Tinubu, whom the DOJ alleged was connected to the organisation under investigation. Agbele, meanwhile, was described as an associate whom Tinubu said he knew through Akande.

The DOJ subsequently filed a civil forfeiture action in 1993 seeking the seizure of funds identified in the case. According to the chronology, the matter was resolved through a civil settlement, with a portion of the funds forfeited to the United States government.

The documents also outlined subsequent legal efforts to obtain records relating to the historical investigation.

They stated that journalist Aaron Greenspan filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit in 2023 seeking documents from several US federal agencies, including records connected to the investigation.

According to the chronology, in 2025, a US District Court in Washington, DC, ruled that some agencies could not rely on blanket refusals to confirm or deny the existence of records and directed them to process parts of the FOIA request in line with legal requirements.

The lobbying firm said the FOIA litigation remains ongoing and that the documents were being shared with congressional committees for “informational and oversight purposes”, citing Nigeria’s strategic relationship with the United States.

The issue surrounding the 1993 forfeiture case also featured during legal challenges to the outcome of Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election.

Atiku Abubakar and former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi argued before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that Tinubu’s involvement in the forfeiture proceedings affected his eligibility to contest the election.

However, the PEPC dismissed the argument, ruling that the petitioners failed to establish that Tinubu had been convicted of any criminal offence in the United States.

The court further held that the forfeiture proceedings were civil in nature and that the evidence presented did not demonstrate that Tinubu provided false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by failing to disclose the matter.