A Washington-based lobbying firm representing former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar has initiated the distribution of records regarding a historical United States legal case involving Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The materials are being shared with officials from the Donald Trump administration, members of the United States Congress, and congressional staff.
The firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., was retained by Atiku in March under a one-year agreement valued at $1.2 million to manage diplomatic outreach, advocacy, and state communications regarding United States-Nigeria relations. As part of this engagement, the lobbying entity disclosed that it held discussions with federal officials and congressional offices before transmitting over 60 pages of United States Department of Justice documents and related judicial filings. The firm indicated that the materials were provided for informational and oversight purposes to ensure relevant records were available to American officials.
The circulated documents center on a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, titled United States v. Funds in Account No. 263226700 et al. According to the background records provided by the firm, federal investigators examined financial activities between 1988 and 1991 connected to a narcotics network operating between Nigeria and the United States. The Department of Justice alleged that funds derived from illicit activities were deposited into several bank accounts associated with Tinubu and named two other associates, Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele, in connection with the investigation.
The legal matter was ultimately resolved in 1993 through a civil settlement in which a portion of the funds in the specified accounts was forfeited to the United States government.
The background records also reference subsequent legal proceedings, including a 2023 Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by journalist Aaron Greenspan seeking federal agency records related to the historical investigation. In 2025, a federal district court in Washington, D.C., determined that federal agencies could not issue a blanket refusal to acknowledge the records, ordering them to process portions of the request in accordance with statutory requirements. That litigation remains active.
The 1993 forfeiture case previously featured in domestic legal challenges following Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election. Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party candidate Peter Obi petitioned the Presidential Election Petition Court, arguing that the United States court proceedings disqualified Tinubu from holding office. However, the court dismissed the petition, ruling that the forfeiture was civil rather than criminal, that no criminal conviction had been established, and that the evidence failed to prove false information was submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.