🇺🇸 US Lobbying Firm Takes Tinubu Drug-Trafficking Allegations to Congress

A Washington-based lobbying and policy advisory firm, Von Batten-Montague-York L.C., says it has briefed members of the U.S. Congress and senior congressional staff on longstanding allegations concerning Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and a 1990s U.S. heroin-trafficking investigation. The firm has been campaigning for the release of FBI and DEA records connected to the controversy and has circulated more than 60 pages of U.S. Department of Justice documents to American officials. The records relate principally to a 1993 civil forfeiture case in Illinois involving approximately $460,000 associated with accounts linked to Tinubu. Importantly, the underlying proceeding was a civil forfeiture case, not a criminal prosecution or conviction of Tinubu. The allegations being promoted by the lobbying firm have not established that Tinubu was criminally convicted of drug trafficking. Recent reports also note that the FBI and DEA have not publicly confirmed several of the firm's specific claims. The issue has gained additional political significance because Von Batten-Montague-York was reportedly retained by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a political opponent of Tinubu, under a reported $1.2 million, 12-month lobbying arrangement. The lobbying campaign is unfolding alongside a U.S. legal dispute over access to historical FBI and DEA records. The firm says its objective is to keep the matter before U.S. policymakers and draw attention to questions it believes could affect Washington's security, intelligence and narcotics-enforcement relationship with Nigeria. Fact-checking note: The allegations should be described as allegations or claims, rather than facts. The documented 1993 matter was a civil forfeiture proceeding, and there is no reported criminal conviction of Tinubu for drug trafficking arising from that case. Source: https://enews.com.ng/2026/09/us-lobbying-firm-escalates-heroin-trafficking-claims-against-tinubu-says-it-briefed-members-of-congress/