A U.S. lobbying firm, hired by former president Atiku Abubakar to push for the release of records related to President Bola Tinubu’s 1993 cocaine-trafficking case, says it has evidence that shows Mr Tinubu’s administration offered its founder, Karl-Marx Edward Okeke-Von Batten, $3 million to abandon the advocacy.
The Washington DC-based firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, claimed on Wednesday that Mr Tinubu’s team reached out to the company’s founder with a juicy multi-million naira offer to abandon the campaign but it was rejected.
“A few days ago, Dr. Von Batten received unsolicited offers of $3 million, along with an invitation to a confidential meeting in London, from a highly placed individual whom we have been informed is connected to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu (@officialABAT). We believe these offers were an attempt to persuade Dr. Von Batten to end our campaign concerning President #Tinubu’s alleged heroin-trafficking records,” the firm wrote on X on Wednesday.
Stung by Mr Batten’s rejection, the firm said Mr Tinubu’s administration initiated a smear campaign against the lobbying firm to discredit its founder and consequently, the advocacy for the release of the drug-trafficking records.
“After the refusals, a smear campaign against Dr. Von Batten began,” the firm said, noting that the correspondence between both parties would be forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice for further action.
“We will be providing the $3 million offer and related communications to the our friends at @TheJusticeDept and @FBI to protect our reputation and allow the appropriate authorities to review the matter,” the firm said.
“We have a simple message for President Bola #Tinubu, the @OfficialAPCNg, and their associates: Thank you for the offer, but no thanks.”
Earlier this year, Mr Tinubu’s administration engaged DCI Group with a $9 million contract to package Nigeria as a country making efforts to stop the killing of Christians and consequently discourage U.S. President Donald Trump from carrying out his threat to invade Nigeria.
The Tinubu administration paid DCI Group the first tranche of $4.5 million in December 2025 as a retainer for their services from January to June 2026.
Last year, the Peoples Gazette exclusively reported that Mr Tinubu paid U.S. lobbyists $2.7 million to burnish his drug and forgery-tainted reputation in Washington.
Mr Abubakar paid $1.2 million as retainer fee to engage the firm for a 12-month period.