A Washington lobbying firm working says President Donald Trump will not endorse President Bola Tinubu, whom the firm describes as an alleged drug baron, as Nigeria’s president in the coming election.
The firm says it warned senior Atiku aides earlier this week about the Nigerian government delegation that traveled to Washington for talks with the Trump administration.
According to the firm says American officials saw the talks as full of excuses and empty talk with a failed push to get President Donald Trump to host President Bola Tinubu at the White House.
The firm states that the United States will keep working with Nigeria on common goals, but no Nigerian team will ever persuade Washington to back Tinubu whom it calls an alleged heroin trafficker. The firm says that stance will not change now or later.
According to the firm normal diplomatic rules mean the Nigerian foreign minister Bianca Ojukwu should have led the group and met Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Instead, the Nigerian side presented National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu as the leader and highlighted talks with Allison Hooker an under secretary of state. The firm calls this a clear signal that the Trump team received the Tinubu envoys at a lower rank.
The firm has a direct message for Tinubu. Even if he sends the whole Nigerian government next time it will not alter the picture in Washington. The United States will still cooperate with Nigeria where interests match but Trump has made plain, he will not endorse or personally support an alleged drug trafficker as president of Nigeria in the coming election.
The meetings themselves formed the second round of the US Nigeria Joint Working Group. They took place in Washington on 12 August 2026. The Nigerian side was headed by Nuhu Ribadu while Allison Hooker led for the United States. The first round happened in Abuja in January 2026. Officials discussed progress on counterterrorism intelligence sharing protection of communities at risk of religious violence return of displaced people terror funding border controls and a defense roadmap.
A State Department note confirms the talks focused on shielding Christian communities in the Middle Belt holding attackers to account and military cooperation. Both sides reviewed steps Nigeria has taken such as prosecuting hundreds of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa suspects expanding courts and training fifty thousand extra police officers. Challenges remain including reports of civilian deaths and unclear spending on aid. Military talks continued at the Pentagon.
The firm has been circulating more than sixty pages of US Department of Justice records about a 1993 civil forfeiture case. Those records stem from a federal probe between 1988 and 1991 into a heroin distribution network operating in the Chicago area and parts of Indiana. Investigators linked the network to white heroin brought from Nigeria.
The government named Bola Ahmed Tinubu along with Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele in the case known as United States versus Funds in Account Number 263226700 and others filed in the Northern District of Illinois. Officials alleged that proceeds from the heroin sales were deposited into several US bank accounts owned and controlled by Tinubu at First Heritage Bank and Citibank. They said Tinubu opened multiple accounts used to receive and move the funds and that some money came from Akande who was described as a longtime acquaintance and alleged leader of the group. Agbele was arrested after selling heroin to an undercover officer and later cooperated.
In January 1992 authorities froze accounts holding more than one point four million dollars linked to Tinubu. The amounts far exceeded his reported legitimate income at the time from a job at Mobil Oil Nigeria. In a 1993 civil settlement a court ordered the forfeiture of four hundred sixty thousand dollars from one account as proceeds of narcotics trafficking or property involved in money laundering under federal laws. The rest of the funds were released.
Tinubu was never criminally charged or convicted in the matter and has long denied any wrongdoing. Nigerian courts later ruled during the 2023 election challenges that the civil action did not amount to a criminal conviction. The lobbying firm continues to push the records to Trump administration officials and Congress while related freedom of information efforts seek more investigative files from agencies including the FBI and DEA.
The meetings themselves formed the second round of the US Nigeria Joint Working Group. They took place in Washington on 12 August 2026. The Nigerian side was headed by Nuhu Ribadu while Allison Hooker led for the United States. The first round happened in Abuja in January 2026. Officials discussed progress on counterterrorism intelligence sharing protection of communities at risk of religious violence return of displaced people terror funding border controls and a defense roadmap. A State Department note confirms the talks focused on shielding Christian communities in the Middle Belt holding attackers to account and military cooperation. Both sides reviewed steps Nigeria has taken such as prosecuting hundreds of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa suspects expanding courts and training fifty thousand extra police officers. Challenges remain including reports of civilian deaths and unclear spending on aid. Military talks continued at the Pentagon.
