Claims that the Nigerian Presidency has privately boasted that the United States has been “settled” have raised fresh questions over Nigeria’s mineral resources deal with the United States and the reported push for a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and US President Donald Trump.
According to a statement by Von Batten Montague York, highly placed Nigerians allegedly told the organisation that the Nigerian Presidency has been claiming privately that records held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration relating to President Tinubu will never be released.
The statement also alleged that the Presidency believes a meeting between Tinubu and Trump at the United Nations General Assembly will take place because the Americans have been “settled.”
The organisation, however, said it has not independently verified the claims.
It explained that the phrase “settled the Americans” is being used in the Nigerian sense of suggesting that something of value was provided to obtain a favourable outcome.
The allegation has drawn particular attention because the Nigerian Presidency has announced a minerals agreement with the United States that is expected to be signed during the UN General Assembly.
The group said the timing of the proposed minerals deal raises serious questions about appearances and the need to protect the integrity of the United States and its leadership.
The statement also referred to an alleged unsolicited offer of $3 million from a member of the All Progressives Congress who is said to be connected to President Tinubu.
However, Von Batten Montague York stressed that it has no evidence linking the alleged $3 million offer to the proposed US Nigeria minerals agreement.
The organisation said the combination of the allegations and the timing of the proposed agreement prompted it to begin informing the Trump administration about what it described as a serious appearance problem that the signing could create for the United States and the American president.
It argued that the issue deserves scrutiny because of the reported interest in keeping the FBI and DEA records from being released, the effort to secure a Tinubu Trump meeting and the simultaneous push for closer economic cooperation in Nigeria’s mineral resources sector.
There is no independently verified evidence in the statement establishing that Nigeria offered mineral resources, money or any other benefit to the United States in exchange for the withholding of FBI or DEA records or for a meeting between Tinubu and Trump.
The claims about the records and the alleged settlement therefore remain unverified.
The controversy nonetheless places the proposed Nigeria United States minerals agreement under greater public scrutiny, particularly over transparency, timing and the appearance of any connection between economic cooperation and unrelated political or legal matters.
