A Washington-based lobbying firm retained by former Nigerian vice-president Atiku Abubakar has alleged that its founder received unsolicited offers totalling $3 million and an invitation to a confidential meeting in London from a “highly placed individual” said to be connected to President Bola Tinubu.
Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. said it believed the approaches were intended to persuade Dr Karl Von Batten to abandon the firm’s campaign over historical United States records concerning alleged heroin-trafficking proceeds in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The firm said Dr Von Batten refused the offers, preserved copies of the exchanges and contacted members of Mr Atiku’s campaign to establish the individual’s relationship with the Nigerian president. It added that a smear campaign against Dr Von Batten began shortly afterwards.
“We will be providing the $3 million offer and related communications to our friends at the Department of Justice and the FBI to protect our reputation and allow the appropriate authorities to review the matter,” the firm posted on X. It directed a message at President Tinubu, the ruling All Progressives Congress and their associates: “Thank you for the offer, but no thanks.”
The statement did not name the individual said to have made the approach, nor did it publish the communications it said it had preserved. There has been no independent corroboration of the alleged offer.
The firm is registered under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act as acting for Mr Atiku under a 12-month, $1.2 million contract signed in March 2026. The engagement includes strengthening Mr Atiku’s reputational standing in the United States, arranging meetings with American officials and “counterbalancing” Nigerian government lobbying narratives.
Von Batten-Montague-York has for months briefed members of Congress, congressional staff and figures associated with the Trump administration on a 1993 US civil forfeiture case, United States v. Funds in Account No. 263226700 et al., in which federal prosecutors alleged that proceeds of a heroin-trafficking organisation operating in the United States were deposited into bank accounts they said were owned or controlled by Mr Tinubu. The individuals named in the government’s allegations were Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele. Mr Tinubu was never criminally charged or convicted in connection with the matter. He has consistently denied wrongdoing.
The firm has also publicised subsequent Freedom of Information Act litigation and FBI filings, arguing that a criminal investigation was officially acknowledged and that hundreds of pages of records exist. Nigerian officials and the presidency have described the campaign as a politically motivated revival of a legally resolved civil case, noting that Von Batten’s statements do not represent the official position of the US government.
President Tinubu’s office and the APC had not issued a specific response to the $3 million claim at the time of writing. The presidency has previously rejected attempts to recast the 1990s forfeiture proceedings as evidence of a criminal conviction and has pointed to the firm’s paid relationship with a leading opposition figure ahead of the 2027 election.
The Department of Justice and the FBI have not commented on the alleged offer or on whether they will examine the materials the firm says it intends to submit.
By John James
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