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 trafficking investigation spanning the late 1980s and early 1990s.
“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.
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.
