A fresh dispute has emerged in the political battle surrounding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu after a United States-based lobbying and policy advisory firm linked to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar alleged that its founder was offered $3 million to abandon a campaign involving allegations against the Nigerian president.
Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., said its founder, Dr Karl Von Batten, received what the firm described as unsolicited financial offers and an invitation to a private meeting in London from an individual it was told had links to President Tinubu.
The allegation, published by the firm on X on September 2, 2026, has not been independently verified.
The controversy has nevertheless triggered a sharp response from the Nigerian Presidency, which dismissed Von Batten’s claims as political speculation and questioned the firm’s representation of itself as having access to US government officials.
Firm alleges $3 million offer
According to Von Batten-Montague-York, the alleged approach occurred several days before the firm’s public statement.
The firm claimed that Von Batten was offered $3 million and invited to a confidential meeting in London in an effort to persuade him to stop the firm’s ongoing campaign concerning allegations involving Tinubu.
The firm said its founder rejected the proposal and retained copies of the communications relating to the alleged approach.
It further claimed that Von Batten subsequently contacted individuals associated with Atiku Abubakar’s political campaign to determine whether they had information about the alleged intermediary’s claimed connection to the Nigerian president.
The lobbying firm also alleged that attacks against its founder began after he declined the offer.
It said the communications and other materials connected to the alleged payment proposal would be submitted to US law-enforcement authorities, including the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for review.
At this stage, however, there is no independent confirmation that the alleged offer was made, who made it, or whether the person involved had any relationship with President Tinubu.
Presidency challenges credibility of claims
The allegation has been rejected by the Presidency.
Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, argued that Von Batten’s statements should not be interpreted as representing the position of the US government or the administration of President Donald Trump.
Dare described Von Batten as a commercial lobbyist rather than a US government official and challenged the firm to produce evidence supporting its broader claims about alleged intelligence information.
He questioned references to a supposed “highly classified intelligence report”, arguing that the claims had not been accompanied by an identifiable intelligence document, named Western official or documentary evidence showing that confidential Nigerian government information had been exchanged.
The Presidency therefore maintains that the allegations amount to political claims presented with the appearance of intelligence reporting.
What Atiku’s connection to the firm means
A significant part of the dispute concerns the lobbying firm’s relationship with Atiku Abubakar.
Dare cited US Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, filings and said they showed that Atiku had engaged Von Batten-Montague-York under a $1.2 million, 12-month retainer.
The Presidency argues that the arrangement provides important political context for the firm’s activities and suggests that its campaign should not be treated as an independent US government position.
Dare alleged that the lobbying engagement was connected to efforts to challenge Nigerian government narratives and make use of historical US legal records for political purposes ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election.
Those assertions are themselves part of an increasingly political dispute. The existence and details of the alleged lobbying relationship, however, are distinct from the firm’s separate claim that its founder was personally offered $3 million to discontinue its campaign.
The separate controversy over Tinubu-related allegations
The dispute also touches on longstanding allegations concerning records reportedly associated with Tinubu in the United States.
Von Batten-Montague-York has been campaigning around allegations it describes as relating to purported heroin-trafficking records involving Tinubu.
Those claims should not be presented as established facts.
The material supplied for this report does not establish that Tinubu engaged in heroin trafficking, nor does it show that a court or relevant authority has determined such allegations to be true.
This distinction is particularly important because claims involving criminal conduct can quickly be amplified online without the underlying evidence being independently established.
Why the $3 million allegation matters
If independently substantiated, an attempt to pay a political lobbying organisation to discontinue a campaign could raise serious questions about the methods being used to influence political advocacy and public debate across international jurisdictions.
It could also become significant because the firm says it intends to place the alleged communications before US authorities.
However, a decision by the firm to submit material to US authorities would not, by itself, establish that the alleged payment offer occurred. Any determination about the authenticity, source and purpose of the communications would require examination of the evidence by the relevant authorities.
The dispute is also unfolding less than a year before Nigeria’s 2027 general election, making politically connected lobbying activity involving Nigerian presidential politics particularly sensitive.
A wider battle over information and influence
At the centre of the confrontation is a disagreement over who speaks with authority on matters involving the United States and Nigeria.
Von Batten-Montague-York has presented itself as an organisation engaged in policy and political advocacy, while the Presidency is attempting to distinguish the firm’s activities from the official position of the US government.
That distinction matters because references to US officials, intelligence assessments or federal authorities can give political claims considerably more weight in the eyes of the public.
The Presidency’s response indicates that it intends to challenge that framing and portray the lobbying firm’s activities within the context of Nigerian opposition politics and the approaching 2027 election.
Meanwhile, the lobbying firm says it has documentary material that it is prepared to submit to US authorities.
What happens next?
The next major development could come if Von Batten-Montague-York releases additional evidence concerning the alleged $3 million approach.
Such evidence would need to establish, among other things, the identity of the alleged intermediary, the authenticity of the communications, the circumstances surrounding the proposed meeting and any demonstrable connection between the intermediary and President Tinubu.
US authorities could also determine whether the material submitted to them warrants further examination.
For now, the central allegation remains unverified.
The same caution applies to the competing political claims surrounding the lobbying firm’s activities, Atiku’s relationship with the organisation and the allegations concerning Tinubu’s historical US records.
Bottom line
The dispute has moved beyond a social-media exchange into a broader political confrontation involving a US lobbying firm, the Nigerian Presidency and a political organisation associated with Atiku Abubakar.
But the most consequential claims — including the alleged $3 million offer and the alleged connection between the unidentified intermediary and President Tinubu — remain allegations until independently established by documentary evidence or an authoritative investigation.
As Nigeria approaches the 2027 election cycle, the episode is likely to attract further attention because it sits at the intersection of political campaigning, international lobbying, US legal records and the increasingly contested information environment surrounding the Nigerian presidency.
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