Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A Washington-based lobbying firm retained by former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has escalated its battle with the Nigerian government, formally referring Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo and two senior presidential aides to the Federal Bureau of Investigation over what it describes as a "planned and coordinated" campaign of harassment and interference.
In a dramatic move on September 5, 2026, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. submitted an "Information Referral Concerning Potential Foreign-Government Harassment, Interference, and Transnational Repression" to the FBI's Washington Field Office. The firm named Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President Sunday Dare, and Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo as participants in what it called an effort to disrupt its "First Amendment-protected US advocacy and petitioning activities." The advocacy in question revolves around the firm's campaign pressing for the disclosure of FBI and DEA records concerning President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's alleged drug-trafficking past.
According to the referral, the firm's managing partner, Dr Karl Von Batten, is not alleging that a federal crime has been committed but is providing information for US authorities to assess whether the conduct has any counterintelligence, foreign-influence, or national-security significance. The referral also covers "reported contacts with the White House" regarding Von Batten's appointment to a US presidential commission. The escalation comes just days after Onanuga, in a September 3 statement, described the ongoing US Freedom of Information Act case involving Tinubu's records as "a civil records-disclosure dispute" rather than a criminal matter and asserted that Von Batten was not a party to the suit.
Keyamo swiftly dismissed the referral, describing it as a "storm in a teacup; journey to nowhere." His reaction came hours after SaharaReporters published details of the FBI referral. Von Batten-Montague-York, retained by Atiku under a Foreign Agents Registration Act contract reportedly worth $1.2 million annually, has been at the forefront of efforts to pressure the US government to release the FBI and DEA files. The firm also filed a supplemental submission in a US District Court for the District of Columbia in connection with the FOIA litigation. The referral to the FBI signals a significant escalation in the long-running battle over Tinubu's US records, with the lobbying firm now seeking to bring US law enforcement into the fray.
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