A Washington based lobbying firm retained by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar says it has begun submitting documents relating to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 1993 civil forfeiture case in the United States to officials in the Trump administration, members of Congress and senior congressional staff.
The lobbying firm, Von Batten Montague York, L.C., said it is distributing records from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) concerning allegations linked to a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding involving funds connected to Tinubu.
The firm was engaged by Atiku, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, under a 12 month contract reportedly valued at 1.2 million dollars. According to the agreement, the firm is expected to carry out diplomatic engagement, advocacy and outreach on issues relating to Nigeria and the United States.
In a statement shared on X, the lobbying company said it had held discussions with officials within the US government and Congress before distributing more than 60 pages of Department of Justice records and court documents related to the historical case.
According to the firm, the documents include a chronology outlining the 1993 US Department of Justice heroin proceeds civil forfeiture case and subsequent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation initiated in 2023 to obtain additional records connected to the investigation.
The documents reference a civil forfeiture case filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where the US government alleged that certain funds were proceeds of narcotics trafficking or connected to money laundering activities.
The records identify Tinubu, Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele as individuals mentioned in the government’s allegations. According to the chronology, investigators examined financial activities between 1988 and 1991 and alleged that proceeds linked to a drug trafficking network were deposited into bank accounts associated with Tinubu.
The documents also state that the civil forfeiture case was resolved through a settlement in 1993, with a portion of the funds forfeited to the United States government. The case did not result in a criminal conviction.
The lobbying firm further noted that journalist Aaron Greenspan filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in 2023 seeking records from several US federal agencies related to the historical investigation.
It said the litigation remains ongoing after a US District Court directed some agencies to process parts of the request. The issue of the 1993 forfeiture case was previously raised during legal challenges to the outcome of Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election. Atiku Abubakar and former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi argued before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that the forfeiture proceedings affected Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the election.
However, the court dismissed the argument, ruling that the petitioners failed to establish that Tinubu had been convicted of any criminal offence in the United States. The court also held that the forfeiture proceedings were civil rather than criminal in nature and that the evidence presented did not prove Tinubu submitted false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The lobbying firm said the documents are being shared with US officials and congressional committees for informational and oversight purposes, citing the strategic relationship between Nigeria and the United States.
