A United States-based policy advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has alleged that its principal, Dr. Von Batten, was offered $3 million by an individual it described as a member of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and connected to President Bola Tinubu.
The firm made the allegation in a post on its X account dated September 11, 2026, while disclosing what it described as a portion of a WhatsApp conversation relating to the alleged offer.
According to Von Batten-Montague-York, the alleged $3 million offer was connected to ongoing efforts to obtain records concerning Tinubu from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the United States.
The firm said the development came after Aaron Greenspan, the plaintiff in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case seeking Tinubu-related FBI and DEA records, filed a new document with a U.S. court.
The firm stated that Greenspan’s latest filing specifically referenced Von Batten-Montague-York, its amicus filings and the previously reported $3 million offer allegedly made to Dr. Von Batten.
“Since the $3 million offer has now been raised in an accepted court filing, we believe additional transparency is appropriate at this point,” the firm said.
It subsequently released what it described as a “small portion” of the communication Dr. Von Batten allegedly received, while redacting the sender’s name and WhatsApp profile photograph.
The firm said it had withheld the identity of the individual involved from the public and would disclose it only to U.S. law enforcement authorities.
“We will disclose the individual’s identity only to U.S. law enforcement,” it stated.
The screenshot released by the firm shows a WhatsApp message in which the sender tells Dr. Von Batten that the matter under discussion was “a serious deal worth at least $3 Million.”
The sender also said the matter could not be discussed with anyone else or handled over the telephone, proposing an in-person meeting.
“Boss. I cannot discuss the issue at hand with anyone apart from you directly. It is a serious deal worth at least $3 Million. It’s also not something we can discuss on phone either,” the message reads.
The sender proposed meeting in London and offered to facilitate Dr. Von Batten’s travel if he was in the United States.
“If you agree to meet, I’ll be willing to be in London for the meeting. If you’re in U.S., I can send you a business class ticket to London,” the message stated.
The sender further explained that they could not enter the United States at the time because of an application-related issue, adding that they otherwise would have met Dr. Von Batten there.
The message also referred to a personal relationship between the sender and the recipient, stating: “And by the way, at this point, I am leveraging personal relationship. Although this is professional, our history is not coincidental. All you need to do is listen to me and decide what to do.”
Von Batten-Montague-York said the released screenshot represented only a fraction of what it described as a much larger conversation, which it claimed had been preserved and submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice for review.
“This screenshot represents only a small part of a much larger conversation, which we have preserved and provided to @TheJusticeDept for review,” the firm stated.
It said the limited disclosure was intended to demonstrate that communication concerning the alleged $3 million offer had indeed been received, rather than to release the full exchange or publicly identify the person involved.
The firm also praised Greenspan for pursuing the FOIA case, describing him as “a credit to true journalism for pursuing the truth” concerning Tinubu’s FBI and DEA records.
The latest allegation comes amid the broader dispute over efforts to obtain U.S. law-enforcement records relating to the Nigerian President. However, the screenshot released by the firm, by itself, does not establish the identity of the sender, the purpose of the proposed payment or that the alleged offer was made on behalf of President Tinubu.
Von Batten-Montague-York said its decision to release the limited communication was intended to increase transparency following the reference to the alleged $3 million offer in the court filing.
