A Washington-based lobbying firm hired by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has begun sharing documents with the Trump administration and members of Congress regarding a decades-old United States forfeiture case involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., which was retained by Atiku in March under a 12-month, $1.2 million contract, said it has provided more than 60 pages of Department of Justice records concerning a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding linked to allegations of heroin trafficking.
In a post on X, the firm disclosed that it had held discussions with officials in the Trump administration and congressional staff before distributing the materials. The documents include 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 arose from an investigation into a suspected drug trafficking organisation operating between Nigeria and the United States. The case, filed at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois as United States v. Funds in Account No. 263226700 et al., involved funds that the government alleged were proceeds of narcotics trafficking or connected to money laundering activities. The records identify Tinubu, Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele as individuals named in the government’s allegations.
The chronology states that between 1988 and 1991, federal investigators examined activities of a heroin trafficking network and alleged that proceeds were deposited into bank accounts in the United States associated with Tinubu. The DOJ alleged that Tinubu controlled multiple accounts and that some funds in those accounts were linked to proceeds of illegal activities. The matter was eventually resolved through a civil settlement, with a portion of the funds forfeited to the United States government.
The lobbying firm said many officials within the US government were previously unaware of the historical allegations. We are changing that, the firm stated, adding that drug trafficking has devastated communities across America, claiming thousands of lives and leaving countless families forever changed. The firm said it intends to ensure that the complete collection of DOJ court filings, the supporting affidavit, and related federal court decisions are brought to President Donald Trump’s attention as soon as possible.
The documents are also being provided to House and Senate committees for informational and oversight purposes, particularly amid reports that President Tinubu is seeking a meeting with President Trump during the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly. The forfeiture case featured prominently in petitions filed after Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election by Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. However, the Presidential Election Petition Court ruled that the forfeiture proceedings were civil, not criminal, and held that the petitioners failed to prove Tinubu had been convicted of any criminal offence or made false declarations to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
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