A United States-based political advisory and lobbying firm has indicated that it plans to present video evidence in its legal effort concerning records held by American law enforcement agencies relating to an alleged past drug-trafficking case involving Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.
Von Batten-Montague-York disclosed the development in a post published on its verified X account on Monday, saying it was amending a filing before a US court to include a transcript of the video.
The firm described the material as “really extraordinary” and argued that it could undermine Tinubu’s reported reliance on privacy protections to prevent public access to records held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The claims made by the firm concern allegations surrounding Tinubu and records connected to a Chicago proceeding. They remain contested allegations, and the post itself represents the lobbying firm’s interpretation of the material rather than an independent judicial finding that Tinubu committed drug trafficking.
Firm points to comments at APC event
According to Von Batten-Montague-York, the video features Adewale Tinubu, whom the firm described as President Tinubu’s reported nephew, speaking at an All Progressives Congress political event.
The firm said Adewale Tinubu claimed during the event that he had handled the Chicago case and described it as one of his first legal matters. According to the firm’s account of the video, he also said he personally urged Tinubu to settle the matter.
Von Batten-Montague-York is challenging that account by pointing to the official court record associated with the Chicago proceeding.
The firm said those records identify Patrick S. Coffey, Esq. as the attorney who represented Tinubu in the case. It further argued that the available court documents contain no appearance, pleading, signature or other filing identifying Adewale Tinubu as counsel in the proceeding.
“There is not a single record,” the firm said in its post, while arguing that the apparent discrepancy between the video account and the court documentation is significant to its case.
Privacy dispute over FBI and DEA records
The latest development is tied to a broader dispute over access to FBI and DEA records concerning the alleged drug-trafficking history that the firm has associated with Tinubu.
Von Batten-Montague-York argued that public comments about the Chicago proceeding could affect the privacy protections being invoked in relation to the US law-enforcement records.
The firm specifically referred to Exemption 7(C), a provision under US law that can protect personal privacy interests in certain law-enforcement records. It argued that voluntary public disclosure can reduce the privacy interest protected by that exemption.
On that basis, the firm contended that Tinubu should not be able to rely on privacy protections concerning records relating to a proceeding that, according to the firm, has already been discussed publicly by a member of his family at a political gathering.
The firm characterised the issue as a contradiction between public discussion of the Chicago proceeding and an attempt to prevent related government records from being released.
“President Tinubu cannot have it both ways,” the firm said.
Firm says video changes its evidentiary position
The lobbying firm said the video would be incorporated into its Supplemental Notice of Evidentiary Exhibits before the US court.
It argued that the footage could serve two purposes: first, to challenge what it described as an inaccurate account of who represented Tinubu in the Chicago matter; and second, to demonstrate what it characterised as the public presentation of disputed facts while Tinubu was allegedly present at the event.
Von Batten-Montague-York further claimed that the video showed an attempt to misrepresent established facts to Nigerians. That characterisation is the firm’s allegation and was not independently established in the material supplied.
The firm also argued that the public nature of the comments could weaken the case for keeping the underlying law-enforcement records private.
Its position is that once information concerning a matter has been voluntarily placed into the public domain, the individuals involved may have a reduced expectation of privacy over that same information in subsequent legal proceedings.
Firm predicts eventual release of records
In its post, Von Batten-Montague-York went beyond the immediate dispute over the video and predicted that the FBI and DEA records would eventually become public.
The firm argued that the agencies should recognise what it called the political liability associated with the records and compared the alleged files to the records associated with the Jeffrey Epstein investigations.
It further claimed that the records would eventually be released regardless of which major US political party controls the White House.
“Whether under the current Republican administration or a future Democrat administration, those files will eventually be released to the public,” the firm said.
That statement represents the firm’s prediction rather than an established legal determination that the records will necessarily be released.
Legal and political implications
The latest filing threat adds another layer to an already politically sensitive dispute involving a sitting Nigerian president, US law-enforcement records and allegations connected to an earlier Chicago case.
At the centre of the new development is the video transcript the firm says it intends to submit to the US court. Von Batten-Montague-York believes the footage could challenge the privacy argument surrounding the FBI and DEA records by showing that aspects of the underlying proceeding were publicly discussed.
The firm’s argument, however, will ultimately have to be considered within the applicable US legal framework governing access to law-enforcement records and privacy exemptions.
For now, the firm has publicly announced its intention to amend its evidentiary filing and place the video transcript before the court. Its interpretation of the video, the Chicago court records and Tinubu’s alleged drug-trafficking history remains a matter of contention and should not be treated as a judicial finding of wrongdoing.
The development nevertheless marks a new stage in the dispute, with Von Batten-Montague-York seeking to use the video as evidence in its effort to challenge the continued withholding of the FBI and DEA records.
Tinubu Alleged Drug Case Takes New Turn as US Firm Signals Video Evidence
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