By 247ureports.com
Washington-based lobbying and advisory firm Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. says it has been cleared to proceed with a $36 million federal lawsuit against Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and Ambassador-designate Femi Fani-Kayode in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, escalating a monthslong dispute over the firm’s campaign for the release of decades-old U.S. drug trafficking records tied to Tinubu.
The Allegation
In a post on its verified X account, the firm said the suit stems from alleged threats to kidnap and physically harm its founder, Dr. Karl Von Batten, which it says were made by Fani-Kayode as part of what it describes as an organized criminal conspiracy involving the Nigerian presidency. The firm said the complaint, expected to be filed next week, will proceed under District of Columbia tort law, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), and the Anti-Terrorism Act — citing specific provisions including 28 U.S.C. § 1605B and 18 U.S.C. §§ 2331 and 2333. The firm said the case will test the boundaries of head-of-state immunity while Tinubu remains in office.
The firm added that after filing, it intends to engage U.S., U.K. and E.U. immigration authorities over whether Fani-Kayode’s travel or visa status should be reviewed, citing terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds under U.S. immigration law and visa revocation authority under INA § 221(i) — while noting any such determination would rest with the relevant authorities.
Background: A Monthslong Dispute
This is the latest flashpoint in an escalating public feud between Von Batten-Montague-York and figures aligned with the Nigerian presidency. The firm has for months pushed for the release of U.S. records connected to a 1993 civil forfeiture complaint filed in the Northern District of Illinois, which named Tinubu in connection with historical drug trafficking allegations — records the firm argues the public has a right to see, and which the Nigerian presidency maintains fall under Freedom of Information Act procedures rather than proof of any personal wrongdoing.
The dispute took a sharper turn on September 20, when Von Batten’s firm alleged that Fani-Kayode had threatened to kidnap and physically harm Von Batten, saying it had begun briefing the U.S. State Department and had forwarded a report to the FBI describing the matter as potential “transnational repression.” Fani-Kayode, responding directly, denied making any threat, stating he had no interest in harming or kidnapping Von Batten and would continue to challenge what he calls false claims about Tinubu.
Fani-Kayode has separately questioned Von Batten’s identity, credentials and funding, alleging in an earlier statement that Von Batten was born Ikemefuna Okeke and suggesting his advocacy is financially backed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar — a claim he did not support with documentary evidence. Von Batten’s firm, for its part, has alleged that an individual linked to Tinubu offered Von Batten $3 million at a proposed London meeting in exchange for ending the campaign, a claim Fani-Kayode has also disputed and challenged the firm to substantiate.
What’s Unverified
As of this report, no court filing appears in the D.C. federal docket, and the $36 million figure, the claim of having been “cleared and authorized to proceed,” and the specific statutory framing come solely from the firm’s own social media statement. Neither the Nigerian presidency nor Fani-Kayode has yet responded to this latest post. The underlying 1993 forfeiture complaint being cited is itself, by its nature, an allegation against property rather than a personal criminal conviction of Tinubu.
247ureports.com will update this story once the complaint is filed and confirmed via court records, and as the Nigerian presidency and Fani-Kayode respond.
