Washington-based lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., has announced that it has started transmitting US Department of Justice (DOJ) documentation regarding allegations of President Tinubu’s drug trafficking records to key figures in the Donald Trump administration, members of Congress, and senior congressional aides.
The lobbying firm was hired in March by Atiku Abubakar—presidential candidate for the African Democratic Congress (ADC)—under a $1.2 million, year-long contract aimed at polishing his reputation in the US, facilitating high-level diplomatic and congressional meetings, and neutralizing official government narrative efforts in Washington.
In a social media post on X, the firm noted that numerous US government officials were previously uninformed about the DOJ’s allegations against Tinubu, adding that it plans to present the complete set of court records, supporting affidavits, and relevant federal judicial rulings directly to the Trump administration.
“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 heroin trafficking investigation spanning the late 1980s and early 1990s,” the firm wrote.
According to the document circulated by Von Batten’s firm, the US Department of Justice determined that a Nigeria-based heroin trafficking organization imported white heroin into the United States and transported it from Nigeria to Chicago, where it was distributed by the organization’s members and affiliates.
In the federal matter of United States v. Funds in Account No. 263226700 et al., Case No. 93 C 4483, official government records identified Bola Ahmed Tinubu alongside Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele.
Read Also: US Court Orders FBI to Release Tinubu’s Records
Tinubu’s Alleged Involvement In The Report
The document claims that between 1988 and 1991, federal agents investigated a heroin trafficking organization operating in the United claims, and that the government alleged that revenues from the organization were put into bank accounts in the United States owned and controlled by Tinubu.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Tinubu established and managed multiple financial accounts to hold and move funds linked to a heroin distribution ring. According to the affidavit, Akande—described as the syndicate’s ringleader and a close associate of Tinubu—supplied the capital needed to open at least one of those accounts.
The document identified Agbele as an associate whom Tinubu admitted meeting through Akande, with Tinubu confirming he knew and socialized with him in both Nigeria and the United States. According to the DOJ, Agbele operated as a heroin distributor for the syndicate until his arrest during a sting operation involving an undercover officer, after which he cooperated with federal authorities.
In the filing, Agbele was named as a mutual associate linked to Tinubu via Akande, with Tinubu acknowledging a social relationship with him across both jurisdictions. The DOJ alleged that Agbele trafficked heroin for the network before being caught selling to an undercover agent, subsequently agreeing to assist federal investigators.
According to court filings, the DOJ initiated the civil forfeiture action in 1993 before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, targeting funds it alleged were connected to heroin distribution proceeds or financial money laundering.
Federal prosecutors subsequently moved to seize the assets detailed in the complaint, leading to a negotiated civil settlement in which a portion of the funds was surrendered to the U.S. government.
The document also outlined ongoing efforts to obtain historical case records, highlighting a 2023 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by journalist Aaron Greenspan to compel multiple federal agencies to release files concerning the prior investigation.
Backstory…
In addition, the chronology stated that the litigation is still underway. It also stated that, following discussions with members of the White House and senior congressional staff, the chronology, court records, and FOIA decisions were being provided to several house and senate committees “for informational and oversight purposes” in light of Nigeria’s strategic relationship with the United States, as well as reports that Tinubu is seeking a meeting with Trump during the upcoming General Assembly.
Meanwhile, Tinubu’s US forfeiture action figured heavily in litigation around the 2023 presidential election. Peter Obi, a previous Labour Party presidential candidate, and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP contended before the presidential election petition court (PEPC) that Tinubu should have been disqualified for the 1993 legal forfeiture of $460,000 in the United States.
However, the PEPC ruled that the petitioners lacked to prove that Tinubu had been convicted of any criminal offence in the United States.
The court also ruled that the forfeiture proceedings were civil in nature, and that the evidence presented did not indicate that Tinubu provided false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by neglecting to declare the forfeiture.
