A Washington lobbying and advisory firm says it has been cleared and authorized to file a $36 million federal lawsuit against Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and Ambassador Femi Fani Kayode. The firm Von Batten Montague York LC said the case will be brought in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
The firm said the action stems from alleged threats to kidnap and physically harm its principal Dr Karl Von Batten. It said those threats were made by Ambassador Fani Kayode and formed part of what it called an organized criminal conspiracy involving the Nigerian Presidency. The claims have not been decided by any court.
The firm said the case against President Tinubu will test the limits of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and head of state immunity while he remains in office. It said the complaint will rest on DC tort law, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, and the Anti Terrorism Act. The planned filing also cites 28 USC § 1605B and 18 USC §§ 2331 and 2333. The firm said Section 1605B covers specified international terrorism claims against foreign states, while Section 2333 gives a civil remedy to US nationals who meet the law’s requirements.
The firm said it will file next week. After filing, it said it will contact immigration authorities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union over the alleged extrajudicial threats and over whether Ambassador Fani Kayode’s travel or visa status should be reviewed. It pointed to US terrorism related grounds of inadmissibility under INA § 212(a)(3)(B), 8 USC § 1182(a)(3)(B), and visa revocation power under INA § 221(i), 8 USC § 1201(i). It said any decision will rest with the proper authorities.
The announcement follows an earlier statement in which the firm said it had briefed the US State Department and sent a report to the FBI describing the alleged conduct as possible transnational repression. Nigerian and international reports identify the firm as a Washington group retained by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar under a twelve month contract reported at one point two million dollars. That work has included a campaign for the release of old US records tied to a 1993 civil forfeiture case involving funds the US government once linked to accounts associated with Tinubu.
Fani Kayode, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa and a former aviation minister, has rejected the kidnap and harm claim. He said a social media post cited by the firm was not a threat to kill or abduct anyone and denied any plot to harm Dr Von Batten. He has also challenged the firm’s wider claims about President Tinubu and said a decades old civil case over property is not a criminal conviction.
As of the firm’s statement, the $36 million suit had not yet been entered on the federal court docket. The firm said filing is expected next week.
