A Washington based policy and lobbying firm has told members of the Trump administration and Congress that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu is actively working to rig the coming presidential election.
The firm Von Batten Montague York which calls itself an all Republican partner group said it has already delivered that warning to officials in Washington.
The group said the Independent National Electoral Commission has tried to purge opposition party candidates from the race.
It also said the Nigerian courts have been used to intimidate those candidates. The latest step the firm described is the use of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to wipe out political opponents.
An individual tied to Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress party gave the EFCC an extraordinary 14-day deadline to arrest opposing presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar.
The United States State Department is already monitoring the Nigerian election process. The firm said it plans to brief the State Department and Congress on this newest attempt to use the EFCC to tilt the vote.
The group said a free and fair election in Nigeria is in the interest of the United States and that every person and group seeking to wreck the process should be held to account. The public warning was issued on Saturday September 5, 2026. Nigeria’s presidential election is scheduled for January 16, 2027. Atiku Abubakar is the candidate of the African Democratic Congress.
The 14-day demand came from former House of Representatives member Ehiozuwa Agbonayinma an APC politician from Edo State. Through his lawyer he sent a letter dated August 27 that the EFCC received on September 1 asking the commission to reopen alleged financial crime claims from 2005 and 2006 when Atiku served as vice president. Atiku has said those old claims were already examined by the EFCC an administrative panel the National Assembly and the courts, and that he was never convicted. He described the fresh petition as an effort to shift attention from other national problems. Reports indicate the EFCC may decline to revive the case because the election is near.
The lobbying firm was hired by Atiku earlier this year under a 12 month contract. It tagged President Donald Trump Vice President JD Vance Secretary of State Marco Rubio and several congressional foreign affairs leaders in its statement.
