U.S. firm doubts letter clearing Tinubu of arrest records

United States lobbying firm has questioned the authenticity of a 2003 letter purportedly issued by the American Consulate in Lagos clearing President Bola Tinubu of criminal arrest records in the U.S.

This was as Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Dr Sunday Dare, slammed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his reported $1.2 million lobbying agreement with a Washington-based firm.

But Atiku urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to address questions surrounding its principal’s alleged $460,000 forfeiture in the U.S. instead of attacking a U.S.-based lobbyist, Karl Von Batten-Montague-York.

The lobbyist raised the questions in a statement yesterday after former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, shared on X a document that purportedly cleared Tinubu and attributed it to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria.

The document, dated February 4, 2003, is addressed to Tafa Balogun, who was then Inspector General of Police (IGP), and signed by Michael H. Bonner, identified as Legal Attaché at the American Consulate in Lagos. It states that a records check of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s National Crime Information Centre was conducted in relation to Tinubu following an inquiry from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

The letter says the check returned no records of criminal arrests, warrants, or warrants for Tinubu, whose date of birth was listed as March 29, 1952.

However, Von Batten-Montague-York said the document contains several spelling and grammatical errors that raise questions about whether it is a genuine U.S. government communication.

The firm pointed to words including “czheck” instead of “check” and “maitatins” instead of “maintains”, as well as the use of “it’s territories” instead of “its territories”. It also highlighted the sentence, “The result of the checks were negative,” as grammatically incorrect, alongside the phrases “nor information of your department” and “contact me direct”.

“Given these errors, we find it very difficult to accept this letter as authentic without independent verification,” the firm said.

Von Batten-Montague-York further warned that if the document was fabricated and presented as an official U.S. government communication, those responsible could face legal consequences under U.S. law.

The firm’s statement comes amid renewed scrutiny of historical U.S. records relating to Tinubu following the FBI’s recent disclosures in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case.

The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) are involved in litigation over records sought by transparency activist, Aaron Greenspan, concerning investigations involving Tinubu.

The case relates to requests for FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) records, including documents connected to investigations from the early 1990s.

U.S. authorities have not, in the material available, publicly confirmed the authenticity of the copy shared by Omokri.
FBI’s National Crime Information Centre (NCIC) is a law-enforcement database used for criminal justice information, meaning a negative NCIC result should not automatically be interpreted as a finding that a person had never been investigated, involved in civil proceedings or had no other records held by U.S. agencies.
DARE, who described the campaign against Tinubu as emanating from the U.S., where Atiku had perfected his strategy to derail Tinubu’s re-election campaign, said the Adamawa state-born politician’s agenda is politicallymotivated.

In a statement yesterday, Dare alleged that the media campaign surrounding the activities of Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. was an attempt by Atiku’s political camp to secure foreign validation ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He said publicly available filings under the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) showed that Atiku contracted the Washington-based firm on a 12-month, $1.2 million retainer.

The arrangement, according to him, was intended to counter the Nigerian government narratives and use historical U.S. legal records as political leverage in Nigeria.

The presidential aide particularly questioned claims attributed to Dr Karl-Marx Edward Okeke-Von Batten, describing him as a commercial lobbyist and founder of Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., rather than an official of the U.S. government.

He said claims suggesting that Okeke-Von Batten had access to President Donald Trump or the administration, or could influence ongoing U.S. court proceedings, should be treated with caution.

“The self-bestowed appellation of ‘Senior Government Advisor’ is a linguistic sleight of hand,” Dare said, adding that Okeke-Von Batten’s comments represented his personal or commercial position and not that of the U.S. government or the President.

Dare argued that if Tinubu had committed a criminal offence under U.S. law during previous investigations, American authorities would have had the opportunity to prosecute him at the time. He accused the opposition of focusing on decades-old U.S. legal records instead of presenting Nigerians with concrete policy alternatives ahead of the 2027 elections.

REACTING, Atiku said attacking Von Batten’s personality and character would not answer questions surrounding Tinubu’s alleged $460,000 forfeiture in the U.S.

According to him, focusing on Von Batten or his $1.2 million lobbying engagement with the former vice president was a diversionary tactic by the Tinubu administration.

“And this obsession with Karl Von Batten is an obvious diversion. Abuse the man. Mock his name. Research his wife. Count his clients. Inspect his socks. When Dare and his colleagues are finished, the $460,000 forfeiture record will still be there.

“That is the problem with documents: they do not respond to insults. We will stick to the records. Before counting Atiku’s $1.2 million, account for your own $9 million arrangement. And before abusing the messenger, answer the $460,000 question. The rest is noise,” he stated.