Lobbying Firm Sends Tinubu Drug Case Records to Trump Administration

The Washington-based lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. submitted more than 60 pages of U.S. Department of Justice records to members of the Donald Trump administration and the U.S. Congress. The documents detail a 1993 civil forfeiture case involving Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which emerged from a federal investigation into a heroin trafficking organization that operated between Nigeria and the U.S. from 1988 to 1991.

According to the records, the Department of Justice alleged that proceeds from the narcotics network were deposited into accounts controlled by Tinubu. The legal matter was settled in 1993 through a civil forfeiture of a portion of the funds. While the Nigerian Presidential Election Petition Court previously ruled that this forfeiture did not disqualify Tinubu from the 2023 election, the lobbying firm provided the materials for informational and oversight purposes.

Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. was contracted for $1.2 million by Atiku Abubakar, a presidential candidate for the African Democratic Congress, to advocate for his perspectives on Nigeria-U.S. relations. The submission of these documents coincides with reports that President Tinubu is seeking a meeting with President Donald Trump during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.