A United States based law firm has drawn fresh attention to past statements by Femi Fani Kayode in which he alleged that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was arrested twice in the United States over drug related and money laundering allegations.
Von Batten Montague York raised the issue while responding to recent comments by Fani Kayode concerning Dr Karl Von Batten and the firm’s legal campaign involving records relating to Tinubu.
The firm said Fani Kayode was now attacking Von Batten despite having previously made serious allegations against Tinubu himself.
Reports published in October 2022 documented Fani Kayode’s claim that Tinubu had been arrested twice in America, first in Chicago and later in Washington, in connection with drugs and money laundering.
According to reports of his earlier remarks, Fani Kayode alleged that Tinubu was arrested in Chicago over drugs and subsequently faced an arrest in Washington connected with money laundering. The claims were widely circulated in Nigerian media at the time.
The resurfacing of those statements has attracted renewed attention because Fani Kayode is now a senior supporter of the Tinubu administration and has been designated as Nigeria’s ambassador to South Africa.
The Von Batten firm has used Fani Kayode’s earlier statements as part of its argument that there has been a significant change in his public position toward Tinubu.
The historical allegations should, however, be distinguished from established court findings. A United States court proceeding in 1993 involved the forfeiture of $460,000 held in an account associated with Tinubu. The case was a civil forfeiture proceeding and does not by itself establish that Tinubu was criminally convicted of drug trafficking.
The renewed controversy comes as Von Batten Montague York says it has added Fani Kayode’s recent attacks to a supplemental court filing. The firm says the material supports its position in an ongoing legal dispute concerning access to records involving Tinubu.
The development has brought Fani Kayode’s old accusations back into public focus and raised questions about the sharp change between his earlier public statements about Tinubu and his current position as a supporter of the president.
