A United States lobbying firm linked to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has intensified calls for the release of documents relating to President Bola Tinubu’s decades-old civil forfeiture case in the US, saying it will take its campaign to anti-drug groups, religious leaders and families affected by heroin abuse.
The firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, made the announcement in a statement shared on its official X account on Saturday, alleging that US law enforcement agencies failed to release records connected to Tinubu despite multiple requests made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
According to the firm, the requests were filed by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan and were submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The lobbying firm claimed the agencies declined to release the requested records during the administration of former US President Joe Biden, despite a court order.
“The refusal and stonewalling by the Biden Administration led to US District Judge Beryl Howell ordering the Biden Administration in 2025 to release the files. Yet, no files have been released. This is going to change,” the statement said.
It also announced plans to meet with anti-drug organisations, religious leaders and victims of heroin abuse in the United States to discuss the issue.
“Next week, we will be engaging with anti-drug organisations, religious leaders, and victims of heroin abuse and deaths regarding President Tinubu’s alleged link to heroin trafficking in Chicago,” the firm stated.
The latest development comes days after Atiku Abubakar criticised the Presidency’s response to petitions reportedly submitted by his US lobbying team to President Donald Trump and the US State Department over Tinubu’s 1993 civil forfeiture case.
Through his spokesman, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku accused the Presidency of drawing even more attention to the issue after referencing China’s strict anti-drug laws while defending the President.
“It takes a peculiar kind of unintelligence for a spokesman to set out to drag an opponent before a hypothetical Chinese court, only to end up dragging his own principal into the dock,” Atiku said.
The Presidency has consistently dismissed the allegations, insisting that there are no outstanding criminal proceedings against President Tinubu in the United States.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga also accused Atiku of corruption during his time as vice president and maintained that the opposition was attempting to revive a matter that had long been settled.
The decades-old civil forfeiture case has once again become a major talking point in Nigeria’s political landscape as the build-up to the 2027 general election gathers momentum.
While the Presidency insists the case did not result in any criminal conviction against Tinubu, opposition figures continue to demand the release of additional US records relating to the matter.
