A United States-based lobbyist, Von Batten-Montague-York, has called on President Donald Trump and the US Congress to expand ongoing scrutiny of Nigeria to include allegations that President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila participated in a scheme to fraudulently obtain or divert US-linked international funding through an allegedly fictitious federal agency.
In a social media post Thursday, Batten-Montague-York alleged that the recently exposed ‘fake’ Nigerian agency, the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), received a N1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 national budget, which also contained projects financed by the World Bank.
“We are now officially lobbying for the investigation to be expanded to include a possible conspiracy by senior members of the #Tinubu government to defraud the United States by participating in a scheme to illegally obtain or divert U.S.-linked funding,” he said.
The latest allegations have renewed attention on Gbajabiamila’s previous disciplinary case in the US before he became one of Nigeria’s most influential political figures.
In February 2007, the Supreme Court of Georgia suspended Gbajabiamila from legal practice for 36 months after he admitted violating professional conduct rules relating to client funds.
Court records show he acknowledged receiving a client’s $25,000 settlement, depositing it into his attorney trust account, failing to promptly remit the money, using the funds for personal purposes, closing his law office and relocating to Nigeria. He, however, later repaid the client before disciplinary proceedings concluded.
The court noted that the admitted misconduct was ordinarily punishable by disbarment but accepted a petition for voluntary discipline imposing a three-year suspension instead.
Years later, reports indicated that his membership in the Georgia State Bar was eventually terminated after he failed to seek reinstatement following the suspension, meaning he is no longer authorised to practise law in that US jurisdiction.
Batten-Montague-York in his latest statement further claimed that the suspect arrested in connection with the alleged agency, Adeniyi Adeyemi, had accused senior Nigerian government officials, including Gbajabiamila, of playing a key role in the alleged scheme and demanding a cumulative N600 million in kickbacks.
“The recently exposed fake Nigerian presidential agency received a ₦1.3 billion allocation in the Nigerian national budget, a budget that included financing from the @WorldBankGroup. We are now reviewing whether U.S.-linked World Bank and other international funding may have been received by or benefited the alleged fake agency.
“The individual arrested in connection with the alleged fake agency has accused senior Nigerian government officials, including Femi #Gbajabiamila (@femigbaja), President #Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, of being a key figure in the alleged scheme and of requesting a total of ₦600 million in kickbacks,” he said.
The US lobbyist also alleged that the Trump administration and members of the US Congress had been gathering information on what he described as attempts by the Tinubu administration, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), members of the Nigerian judiciary and other non-state actors to manipulate Nigeria’s next general election.
“The @realDonaldTrump Administration and Congress have been collecting information concerning alleged efforts by President Tinubu’s (@officialABAT) government, its associates within @inecnigeria, the Nigerian #judiciary, and non-governmental actors to rig the upcoming election,” he stated.
The post comes days after Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to probe all activities relating to the PFIPC, following a controversial claim by the Presidency on July 1 when it disowned the PFIPC, describing it as a fictitious body and accused Adeyemi of falsely presenting himself as its Director-General, using forged State House documents.
However, findings showed that the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PEAC/PFIPC) appears under the Presidency in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a budgetary allocation of ₦1.302 billion, comprising ₦802.9 million for personnel, ₦200 million for overheads and ₦300 million for capital expenditure.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force has filed an eight-count charge against Adeyemi and two others before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of conspiracy, forgery and impersonation. The defendants are accused of forging appointment letters purportedly issued byTinubu and bearing Gbajabiamila’s signature, as well as other State House documents allegedly used to legitimise the activities of the council.
The case is scheduled for hearing on July 27.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.