US Lobbying Firm Submits Tinubu Drug Forfeiture Records to Trump Administration, Congress

A Washington-based lobbying firm retained by former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar has begun circulating more than 60 pages of United States Department of Justice records to officials in the Donald Trump administration and members of Congress, reviving decades-old allegations that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was involved in a heroin trafficking investigation spanning the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The firm, Von Batten‑Montague‑York, L.C., disclosed the move in a statement posted on X on Monday, July 20, following discussions with members of the Trump administration, Congress and senior congressional staff. The documents relate to a 1993 civil forfeiture case, United States v. Funds in Account No. 263226700 et al., filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, in which the DOJ alleged that proceeds from a Nigeria‑based heroin trafficking network were deposited into bank accounts in the United States associated with Tinubu.

The lobbying firm was contracted by Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, in March under a 12‑month agreement reportedly valued at $1.2 million. The engagement covers diplomatic outreach, congressional engagement, strategic communications and policy advocacy designed to present Atiku’s perspectives on governance, democracy and bilateral relations between Nigeria and the United States.

In its statement, the firm said many officials within the US government were previously unaware of the DOJ’s allegations concerning Tinubu. “We are changing that,” the company wrote. It added that while only a chronology of the matter was being made public, the complete collection of DOJ court filings, supporting affidavits and related federal court decisions would also be brought to Trump’s attention.

The two‑page chronology released alongside the statement summarises allegations contained in historical US court records, beginning with a federal investigation between 1988 and 1991 into what prosecutors described as a Nigeria‑based heroin trafficking organisation operating in the United States. Investigators alleged that proceeds of the drug trafficking operation were deposited into bank accounts in the United States owned or controlled by Tinubu. The chronology named Tinubu, Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele as individuals identified in the government’s allegations. It alleged that Tinubu opened multiple bank accounts used to receive and transfer funds believed to be proceeds of heroin trafficking. The document further alleged that Akande led the heroin trafficking organisation and provided funds used to open one of Tinubu’s bank accounts, while Agbele, whom Tinubu allegedly acknowledged knowing through Akande, was arrested after allegedly selling heroin to an undercover law enforcement officer before later cooperating with US investigators.

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)… pic.twitter.com/VqRUEg6o5Q

— Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. (@batten_von) July 20, 2026

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

The latest disclosure builds on an April 2025 ruling by US District Judge Beryl Howell, who ordered key US law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DEA, IRS and CIA, to process and release records relating to Tinubu’s purported investigation in the 1990s. The judge held that the FBI and DEA could no longer rely on blanket refusals to confirm or deny whether records exist because it had already been publicly acknowledged that Tinubu had been investigated by those agencies. “Continuing to shield the existence of the records from public disclosure was neither logical nor plausible,” Howell said.

The Freedom of Information Act litigation was initiated in 2023 by journalist Aaron Greenspan, who had accused the agencies of violating FOIA by refusing to release records relating to investigations involving Tinubu and Agbele. The litigation is still ongoing.

The firm said the documents were being circulated in light of Nigeria’s strategic relationship with the United States and reports suggesting that Tinubu is seeking a meeting with Trump during the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly.

Tinubu’s 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. The Supreme Court later upheld Tinubu’s election.

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