A United States-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., says it has been cleared and authorised to proceed with a $36 million federal lawsuit against President Bola Tinubu and Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, over alleged threats against the firm’s principal, Dr Karl Von Batten. The firm said the complaint is expected to be filed next week at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
The planned lawsuit represents a new stage in a dispute that began after the firm accused Fani-Kayode of threatening to kidnap and physically harm Von Batten. Von Batten-Montague-York alleges that the threats formed part of an organised conspiracy involving the Nigerian Presidency, an allegation that has not been established by a court.Africans & Diaspora
According to the firm’s latest statement, the proposed case will invoke District of Columbia tort law as well as provisions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act. It specifically cited 28 U.S.C. §1605B and 18 U.S.C. §§2331 and 2333 as part of the legal basis it intends to argue.
Section 1605B creates a limited exception to foreign-state immunity for specified claims involving international terrorism, including circumstances involving physical injury or death in the United States. Section 2333 separately allows qualifying United States nationals injured by an act of international terrorism to bring a civil action and seek statutory damages. Whether those provisions apply to the allegations against Tinubu, Fani-Kayode or Nigeria would be for the federal court to determine.Executive Branch
The firm said the action against Tinubu would also test questions surrounding the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and head-of-state immunity while he remains Nigeria’s sitting president. No court has yet ruled that an immunity exception applies in this dispute, and the firm’s statement that it has been “cleared and authorized to proceed” should not be confused with a judicial determination on the merits.
Fani-Kayode has publicly rejected the allegation that he threatened to kidnap or kill Von Batten. In a response published this week, he said there was “no conspiracy or plot to abduct or kill” the American lobbyist and maintained that any action against him would be through lawful Nigerian security and judicial institutions.Africans & Diaspora
Von Batten-Montague-York also said that after filing the lawsuit it plans to contact immigration authorities in the
