By TheDailyNewsHub
A US-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has questioned the timing of a proposed Nigeria-United States mining cooperation agreement, alleging that the development raises concerns about the appearance of a possible connection between economic diplomacy and President Bola Tinubu’s ongoing dispute over the release of US records.
The firm made the claim in a post on X on Sunday, shortly after reports emerged that Nigeria and the United States were working towards signing a Memorandum of Understanding on mining cooperation on the sidelines of the 2026 United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“We have a team tracking everything, and informed the Trump Administration the moment this article was published,” the firm said in the post.
It added that, in its view, President Tinubu’s alleged desire to prevent the release of FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration records and secure a meeting or photograph with US President Donald Trump at the UN had made the timing of the proposed economic agreements a matter of concern.
“Our message to the Nigerian Presidency is simple: the United States of America will not be bought with promises of mining or oil deals,” the firm said.
However, there is no evidence in the information reviewed that the proposed Nigeria-US mining agreement is connected to the Tinubu records dispute, nor that the US government has accused the Nigerian government of attempting to buy American policy with mining or oil agreements. The statement is the position of the private lobbying firm and should not be presented as an official US government position.
The proposed mining agreement itself is independently reported and has been confirmed by Nigeria’s Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
According to the ministry’s statement, Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake recently met with US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Keith Heffern in Abuja as both countries worked towards formalising a new framework for cooperation in Nigeria’s mining sector. The proposed MoU is expected to cover areas including geological exploration, mining, processing, value addition and refining.
The discussions reportedly followed an earlier high-level engagement in Washington, where an Alake-led Nigerian delegation met with David Copley, a Special Assistant to the US President and Senior Director for Global Supply Chain at the National Security Council.
Nigeria is seeking to attract international investment into its solid minerals industry as part of efforts to diversify the economy and develop domestic processing capacity. The ministry said Nigeria was also engaging major international mining companies, including Fortescue, Glencore and BHP, over investment opportunities.
The proposed MoU is expected to provide a framework for greater cooperation between Nigeria and the United States in the mining and critical minerals sector, while an African Minerals Strategy Group side event at the UN General Assembly is expected to connect US investors with opportunities across Africa’s mining value chain.
The latest comments from Von Batten-Montague-York come amid its continuing campaign for the release of US government records relating to historical allegations involving Tinubu.
The firm has been involved in publicising developments surrounding a Freedom of Information Act case seeking the release of records held by US agencies. A US federal court has allowed the FBI to submit some documents privately for judicial review in the litigation.
The historical matter also involves a 1993 US civil forfeiture proceeding concerning approximately $460,000 associated with accounts held in Tinubu’s name. The existence of that civil forfeiture proceeding is documented, but allegations surrounding the records and their interpretation remain politically contested.
Importantly, the lobbying firm is not the US government. The firm has been publicly identified as having been retained by former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar for lobbying work in Washington. Its statements therefore represent the firm’s own position and advocacy, rather than an official statement from the Trump administration.
The proposed Nigeria-US mining agreement is consequently a separate, documented diplomatic and economic initiative, while the firm’s suggestion that its timing raises questions about the Tinubu records dispute remains an allegation that has not been independently established.
The development is nevertheless likely to attract attention as Abuja and Washington seek to deepen economic relations, particularly around critical minerals that are increasingly important to global supply chains and the energy transition.