A Washington-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York L.C., says it has begun sharing United States Department of Justice (DOJ) records relating to a decades-old civil forfeiture case involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with officials in the Donald Trump administration and members of the U.S. Congress.
The firm said the documents are being distributed to administration officials, lawmakers, and senior congressional staff as part of efforts to draw attention to allegations contained in historical U.S. court filings from investigations conducted in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
According to the lobbying company, it was retained in March 2026 under a 12-month, $1.2 million contract linked to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. The agreement covers lobbying, strategic advisory services, engagement with the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government, and efforts to counter narratives promoted by the Nigerian government.
In a post on X, the firm stated that it had begun circulating more than 60 pages of DOJ documents to officials in Washington, claiming that some policymakers were previously unaware of the historical court records.
The documents include a 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.”
According to the chronology, U.S. investigators examined a heroin distribution network operating in Chicago between 1988 and 1991, alleging that proceeds connected to the organisation were deposited into bank accounts owned or controlled by Tinubu.
The records also reference Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele in connection with the funds targeted in the civil forfeiture proceedings.
However, the allegations did not result in any criminal conviction against Tinubu. The Nigerian president has consistently denied any wrongdoing and was never charged with a criminal offence arising from the case.
Civil Forfeiture Proceedings
According to the lobbying firm’s summary, U.S. authorities alleged that Akande was a key figure in the organisation and had provided funds used to open one of the bank accounts linked to Tinubu.
The documents also state that Agbele, described as an associate, was arrested after allegedly selling heroin to an undercover law enforcement officer before later cooperating with investigators.
In 1993, the U.S. government initiated a civil forfeiture action before the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, seeking the seizure of funds it alleged were connected to drug trafficking or money laundering.
The case was resolved through a negotiated settlement under which $460,000 was forfeited to the U.S. government.
The proceedings were civil in nature and concerned the funds in question rather than a criminal prosecution or conviction of Tinubu.
The court filings indicated that the U.S. government relied on information from agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in arguing there was probable cause to believe the funds were linked to unlawful financial activities.
FOIA Litigation and Congressional Briefing
The lobbying firm’s document also references ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation initiated in 2023 by journalist Aaron Greenspan, who sought additional federal records relating to the investigation.
In 2025, a U.S. judge ruled that the FBI and DEA could not rely solely on a blanket refusal to confirm or deny the existence of certain requested records because the historical investigation had already been officially acknowledged. The agencies were directed to process relevant portions of the FOIA request.
Von Batten-Montague-York said the FOIA litigation remains ongoing and that the chronology, together with related court decisions, is being circulated to selected committees in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate for what it described as informational and oversight purposes.
The firm linked the move to Nigeria’s strategic relationship with the United States and reports that President Tinubu is seeking a meeting with President Trump during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.
As of the time of filing this report, the Nigerian Presidency had not issued an official response to the lobbying firm’s latest claims.
Tribunal Previously Ruled on the Matter
Tinubu’s U.S. civil forfeiture case was one of the issues raised in legal challenges following Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi argued that the forfeiture proceedings should have disqualified Tinubu from contesting the election.
However, the Presidential Election Petition Court ruled that the petitioners failed to establish that Tinubu had been convicted of any criminal offence in the United States.
The tribunal held that the U.S. proceedings were civil—not criminal—in nature and found no evidence that Tinubu provided false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regarding the forfeiture.