Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. Silent on Opposition Politicians With Lavish Assets Abroad
By Jeremy Fregene
The Washington-based lobbying firm engaged by former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has opened a new front against the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, announcing plans to investigate allegations that some senior government officials own properties and other assets in the United States and Europe allegedly disproportionate to their official earnings.
Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., which represents Atiku’s interests in Washington, disclosed the initiative in a social media post in which it said it had received “many messages” from Nigerians making allegations about unnamed senior members of President Tinubu’s government.
The firm stressed that it had seen no physical evidence corroborating the claims and described them expressly as allegations.
But it said it was assembling a team to examine them and threatened to take any evidence eventually uncovered to its contacts in the United States Congress and the Donald Trump administration.
Significantly, the firm made no corresponding announcement that its proposed investigation would extend to wealthy Nigerian opposition politicians, former public office holders or other politically exposed persons who may similarly own substantial properties and investments abroad.
That omission is likely to fuel questions over whether the exercise is an impartial anti-corruption initiative or another weapon in Nigeria’s increasingly internationalised battle for the 2027 presidency.
The firm said it had received claims that certain senior members of the Tinubu administration owned “properties, assets, and homes” in the United States and Europe which allegedly did not correspond with their reported government salaries.
It also said some unidentified officials were alleged to hold US permanent resident status while failing to meet required federal income-tax obligations.
No official was named, no property identified, and no documentary evidence presented.
“These are allegations, and we have seen no physical evidence to corroborate these claims,” Von Batten-Montague-York acknowledged.
Nevertheless, it said it was putting together a team to investigate the information, describing the assignment as a pro-bono undertaking under its “U.S. Interests Program.”
If its findings supported the allegations, the firm said, it would present them to its “friends in Congress” and the Trump administration, specifically identifying the US Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The declaration, however, also raises another potentially important question in Washington: where does the firm’s registered assignment for Atiku end and its newly announced “pro-bono” investigation of officials serving in the government of his principal political opponent begin?
Von Batten-Montague-York is registered under the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act, FARA, in connection with its representation of Atiku.
Its publicly disclosed engagement covers government-affairs representation and strategic advisory services, including reputational and policy strategy, congressional outreach, engagement with the US executive branch, and development of US-facing messaging.
Against that background, questions may arise over whether an investigation targeting officials of the government Atiku hopes to defeat in 2027 is entirely separate from the firm’s registered political work for the former Vice President, as its “pro-bono” description suggests, or whether any activities arising from it could fall within matters requiring disclosure under FARA.
FARA is essentially a transparency and disclosure law, and the announcement of an additional investigation does not, by itself, establish any violation.
The more pertinent issue would be whether the activity was undertaken at the request, direction, or control of the foreign principal, or otherwise formed part of registrable political activities on his behalf.
The firm has provided no evidence that Atiku commissioned, directed, or financed the proposed investigation.
But the distinction could attract scrutiny if Von Batten-Montague-York eventually approaches Congress or Trump administration officials seeking action against Tinubu government appointees while simultaneously serving as Atiku’s registered Washington representative.
The firm itself says registrable contacts and political activities will be reflected in supplemental FARA disclosures where required.
The issue could therefore ultimately become one of transparency: if the investigation produces lobbying or representations to US authorities against officials serving Atiku’s principal opponent, will those activities appear in the firm’s subsequent FARA filings?
The firm’s decision to tag some of Washington’s most influential political personalities and institutions further underlines the political reach of its announcement.
Among those tagged were Vice President JD Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, the White House, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
It also drew the attention of powerful congressional institutions, including the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and House Judiciary Committee.
Individual lawmakers tagged included Senator Ted Cruz, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, Congressman Greg Steube, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Senator Chuck Grassley.
The firm also tagged the US Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service and US Citizenship and Immigration Services — agencies that could become relevant if credible evidence involving illicit financial transactions, federal tax obligations or immigration matters were established.
The political reach extended to the American media, with Fox News and CNN tagged alongside White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Von Batten-Montague-York sought to anchor its warning in existing American law, citing Sections 1956 and 1957 of Title 18 of the US Code dealing with money laundering and certain transactions involving criminally derived property.
It also invoked the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, under which the United States can impose sanctions in specified circumstances involving significant corruption by foreign persons.
Citing those statutes, however, does not establish that any Nigerian official has violated them, and the firm presented no evidence in its announcement linking any serving government appointee to stolen public funds or illicit assets in the United States.
The latest intervention is politically significant because of Von Batten-Montague-York’s relationship with Atiku, who is seeking to challenge Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Its apparent limitation of the proposed investigation to senior members of the Tinubu administration could prove particularly contentious.
Nigeria’s political class cuts across government and opposition, with politicians and former public office holders from different parties possessing extensive international business, residential and investment interests.
Yet the firm announced no general investigation of Nigerian politically exposed persons with potentially unexplained assets abroad, irrespective of party affiliation.
That leaves an unavoidable question hanging over the exercise: if unexplained foreign wealth among Nigerian public officials is the concern, why should the searchlight illuminate only officials serving the government Atiku is campaigning to remove?
The answer could determine whether the initiative is ultimately regarded as a genuine anti-corruption effort or as an extension of Nigeria’s increasingly bruising 2027 presidential contest onto American soil.
For now, however, the entire exercise rests on allegations which Von Batten-Montague-York itself concedes it has not substantiated.
Whether its promised investigation eventually produces verifiable evidence capable of attracting action by American authorities, and whether its resulting Washington activities become part of the public FARA disclosure trail, could prove as consequential as the allegations themselves.
Discover more from Keeping Them Honest
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.