A Washington-based lobbying firm hired by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has provided an update on the long-running legal battle over the release of US government records related to President Bola Tinubu.
The lobbyists, Von Batten-Montague-York, LC, said they had reviewed documents provided by the United States government and alleged that Tinubu personally intervened in the federal case to oppose the release of records concerning him.
In a statement on Sunday, the firm said Tinubu and his associates had claimed that the records had not been released because the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sought to protect investigative methods and lives.
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However, lobbyists disputed that explanation, citing an October 23, 2023 motion that Tinubu filed in the case.
According to the firm, Tinubu argued in the motion that the records contained private financial and law enforcement information and invoked Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provisions and privacy protections.
The lobbyists further claimed that Tinubu argued that the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were not adequately protecting his privacy interests in the case.
They said Tinubu subsequently asked the court for 30 days to consult with federal agencies about the records they intended to produce and make public.
The firm said the court granted Tinubu’s request to intervene in the case on November 27, 2023.
He further alleged that the intervention marked a turning point in the case, alleging that the Biden administration subsequently moved from delaying the release of the records to blocking their release.
Lobbyists described Tinubu’s intervention as evidence that the president was actively seeking to participate in the proceedings surrounding the release of the records.
The firm, however, did not provide in the statement a decision from an independent court establishing that Tinubu’s intervention directly caused the alleged blocking of the records.
Update: We spent the weekend carefully reviewing the US government documents provided to us. we find that #NigeriaPresident Bola Tinubu (@OficialABAT) is lying to the world. For example, this weekend, the President #tinubu and his associates claimed that heroin trafficking… pic.twitter.com/muhs6R09RH
– Von Batten-Montague-York, LC (@batten_von) August 23, 2026
The development is the latest in the long-running Freedom of Information Act litigation over U.S. government records related to Tinubu..
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