A UNITED States-based lobbyist, Avon Batten-Montague-York, has submitted decades-old U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) records on alleged drug trafficking involving President Bola Tinubu to the President Donald Trump administration and the U.S. Congress.

Avon Batten-Montague-York, who is associated with former Nigeria vice-president Atiku Abubakar, announced the move in a statement posted on X on Monday, July 20.

According to the lobbying firm, the documents were shared following discussions with members of the Trump administration, Congress and senior Congressional staff.

The documents concern the DOJ’s allegations linking Tinubu to a heroin trafficki

“Many within the U.S. government were previously unaware of the DOJ’s allegations concerning Bola Tinubu. We are changing that,” the company wrote.

It added that while only a chronology of the matter was being made public, the complete collection of DOJ court filings, supporting affidavits and related federal court decisions would also be brought to Trump’s attention.

According to Avon Batten-Montague-York, the documents were being circulated in light of Nigeria’s strategic relationship with the United States and reports suggesting that Tinubu is seeking a meeting with Trump during the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly.

The two-page chronology released alongside the statement summarises allegations contained in historical U.S. court records, beginning with a federal investigation between 1988 and 1991 into what prosecutors described as a Nigeria-based heroin trafficking organisation operating in the United States.

US are waiting for
Investigators alleged in the document that proceeds of the drug trafficking operation were deposited into bank accounts in the United States owned or controlled by Tinubu.

The chronology named Tinubu, Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele as individuals identified in the government’s allegations.

It alleged that Tinubu opened multiple bank accounts used to receive and transfer funds believed to be proceeds of heroin trafficking.

The document further alleged that Akande led the heroin trafficking organisation and provided funds used to open one of Tinubu’s bank accounts, while Agbele, whom Tinubu allegedly acknowledged knowing through Akande, was arrested after allegedly selling heroin to an undercover law enforcement officer before later cooperating with U.S. investigators.

Court ordered agencies to release records

The latest disclosure builds on an April 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who ordered key U.S. law enforcement agencies to process and release records relating to Tinubu’s purported investigation in the 1990s.

Howell ruled partly in favour of Greenspan, who had accused the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other agencies of violating the Freedom of Information Act by refusing to release records relating to investigations involving Tinubu and Agbele.

The judge held that the FBI and DEA could no longer rely on ‘Glomar’ responses, refusing to confirm or deny whether records exist, because it had already been publicly acknowledged that Tinubu had been investigated by those agencies.

In her ruling, Howell said continuing to shield the existence of the records from public disclosure was “neither logical nor plausible.”

She found that Greenspan’s argument that the public interest outweighed any remaining privacy concerns carried weight, particularly because previous official acknowledgements had already established that Tinubu had been investigated, and the CIA had confirmed possessing records responsive to the request.

The FOIA litigation began in 2023 after Greenspan sued multiple U.S. agencies seeking records relating to the historical investigation.

In October 2023, he filed an emergency motion asking the court to compel immediate disclosure ahead of the Nigerian Supreme Court’s hearing on petitions challenging Tinubu’s election as president.

The request was denied.

On the same day, Tinubu sought to intervene in the case, arguing that the requested records included confidential tax information and law enforcement records protected under the Privacy Act and exemptions contained in the Freedom of Information Act.

The ICIR reported that the case resurfaced prominently during Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election litigation after Tinubu’s opponents, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, relied on the U.S. proceedings to challenge his constitutional qualification to contest the presidency.

Both the Presidential Election Petition Court and the Supreme Court dismissed the claims and upheld Tinubu’s election.

Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing.