Tinubu Asks US Court to Dismiss Atiku Lobbyist’s Suit, Denies Alleged Cover-Up

Tinubu Asks US Court to Dismiss Atiku Lobbyist’s Suit, Denies Alleged Cover-Up

President Bola Tinubu has asked a United States federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., a Washington-based lobbying firm associated with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, seeking records relating to historical US investigations involving the Nigerian president. 

In a filing before the US District Court for the District of Columbia, Tinubu challenged the lobbyist’s attempt to intervene in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act suit brought by American transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan against the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration.

The lobbying firm is seeking access to records connected with historical allegations and a 1993 civil forfeiture case in the United States. It has previously circulated more than 60 pages of US Department of Justice documents concerning the matter to officials in the Trump administration and members of Congress.  

Tinubu’s lawyers, however, argued that the firm had failed to provide evidence supporting allegations that the President was attempting to conceal records or interfere with their release. According to the report, his legal team described the claims of a supposed cover-up as unsupported and maintained that the lobbyist had not established a sufficient legal basis to intervene in the case. 

The dispute relates partly to records surrounding a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding in the United States. The issue became prominent during Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election litigation, when Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi relied on the forfeiture in challenging Tinubu’s qualification to contest the election.

Nigeria’s Presidential Election Petition Court subsequently rejected that argument, holding that the petitioners had not established that Tinubu had been convicted of a criminal offence in the United States and treating the forfeiture proceedings as civil in nature. 

The latest proceedings in Washington therefore concern access to federal agency records and the lobbyist’s attempt to participate in the FOIA litigation, rather than a criminal prosecution of President Tinubu.