$57m Legal Storm: US Advocacy Firm Sues Tinubu, Nigeria, Fani-Kayode Over Alleged Defamation, Kidnap Plot

BY TAIBAT UMMI YAKUBU

A United States-based advocacy firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has filed a $57 million lawsuit against President Bola Tinubu, the Federal Government of Nigeria, former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode and DCI Group, alleging defamation and a conspiracy to kidnap and physically harm the firm’s founder, Dr Von Batten.

The firm announced that the suit was filed on September 28, 2026, at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, escalating an increasingly public dispute surrounding its activities and its efforts to obtain US government records relating to allegations concerning Tinubu.

According to the firm, the lawsuit seeks $36 million jointly from Tinubu and the Federal Government, $3 million from Fani-Kayode personally and another $18 million from DCI Group. The allegations contained in the lawsuit are claims by the firm and have not been established as facts by a court.

In its statement announcing the filing, the organisation alleged that the defendants were involved in efforts to defame its founder and orchestrate a plot to abduct and physically harm him in an attempt to silence his advocacy before the White House and US Congress.

The firm said it deliberately kept the lawsuit out of the public domain while legal documents were being served on the foreign defendants, citing procedures under the United States Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

The case could face significant preliminary legal challenges because it names a sitting foreign president and the Federal Government of Nigeria. The firm itself acknowledged that questions surrounding sovereign immunity and the legal protections afforded foreign states and heads of state could become central to the proceedings.

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The latest lawsuit is the newest chapter in a dispute that has intensified in recent weeks. Before the case was filed, the firm had announced plans for a $36 million legal action against Tinubu and Fani-Kayode over alleged threats against Dr Von Batten. At the time, Fani-Kayode rejected the allegations, arguing that a social media post cited by the firm did not amount to a threat to kidnap or kill anyone.

The advocacy firm has also been pursuing access to historical records held by US agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration, concerning matters involving Tinubu from decades ago. The dispute over those records has generated a separate legal and political controversy in Washington.

The organisation says its advocacy is aimed at securing the release of the records and bringing the allegations contained in them before US officials. However, claims made by the firm regarding alleged heroin trafficking have not, by themselves, established criminal liability against Tinubu, and the Nigerian government has previously maintained that the underlying US records dispute concerns access to government documents rather than a criminal prosecution.

The latest lawsuit also names DCI Group, a US public affairs and communications company, with the advocacy firm seeking $18 million in damages from the organisation. The precise allegations against each defendant will now be subject to the US judicial process.

The case comes amid a broader legal campaign by Dr Von Batten and his organisation. In September, the firm also expanded a separate defamation case in the US District Court for the District of Columbia involving Sahara Reporters and other media-related defendants, seeking damages over publications concerning Von Batten.

With the new $57 million action now filed, the dispute is set to move from public statements and political exchanges into the US federal court system, where the allegations, jurisdictional questions and claims for damages will face judicial scrutiny.

For now, no court finding has established the alleged conspiracy or defamation claims contained in the lawsuit. The defendants will have the opportunity to respond as the case progresses, while questions over sovereign immunity and the scope of US jurisdiction over a sitting Nigerian president and the Nigerian state are likely to become key issues in the proceedings.