The battle for Nigeria’s political future is no longer being fought on Nigerian soil alone. It has moved to the corridors of power in Washington D.C., and the weapon of choice is a decades-old legal file.
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, has deployed a Washington-based lobbying firm to ensure that American policymakers are fully briefed on President Bola Tinubu’s 1993 civil forfeiture case in the United States. The firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, was hired in March under a $1.2 million contract, and it is now making good on its mandate .
According to the firm’s public statements, it has begun submitting more than 60 pages of Department of Justice documents to members of the Trump administration and congressional staff . The firm claims that many US officials were previously unaware of the DOJ’s historical allegations involving Tinubu . That is no longer the case.
The documents detail the DOJ’s 1993 civil forfeiture action against funds linked to Tinubu, which ended in a negotiated settlement where $460,000 was forfeited to the US government . The case has been a recurring theme in Nigerian politics, but this is the first time it has been placed directly on the desks of American decision-makers in this manner.
The lobbying firm has also referenced an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed in 2023 by journalist Aaron Greenspan, which seeks further disclosure from federal agencies including the FBI and the DEA . A US court ruled in 2025 that the agencies could not rely on a blanket refusal to confirm or deny the existence of responsive records, meaning the litigation continues .
Atiku’s contract with the firm explicitly aims to strengthen his reputational standing in the US, facilitate engagements with American officials, and counter the Nigerian government’s lobbying narratives . The opposition is essentially running a parallel diplomatic campaign on American soil.
The timing is significant. Reports indicate that President Tinubu is seeking a meeting with President Donald Trump during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly . Von Batten-Montague-York says it is sharing the records with House and Senate committees for what it calls “informational and oversight purposes” .
This move follows a familiar playbook. During the 2023 presidential election petition, Atiku and Labour Party candidate Peter Obi argued that Tinubu should have been disqualified over the forfeiture . The Presidential Election Petition Court, however, ruled that the proceedings were civil—not criminal—and that Tinubu had not been convicted of any offence .
The APC has consistently defended Tinubu, describing the forfeiture as a compromise settlement where he never admitted wrongdoing. They have also pointed to a 2003 FBI clearance check that showed no criminal records against him .
But Atiku’s lobbyists are now putting these documents directly in front of American policymakers, ensuring that the issue does not fade away. The question now is whether this lobbying push will achieve its objective or simply confirm that after more than three decades, the Tinubu forfeiture case remains exactly what the courts said it was: a civil matter, not a criminal conviction.
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