A United States-based political advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu and his associates forged a purported US Embassy letter used to defend the president against questions surrounding his records in the United States.

The firm made the allegation in a statement posted on its verified X handle on Wednesday.

The claim followed the circulation of a letter reportedly issued through the US Embassy in Nigeria and referenced by Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to Mexico, Reno Omokri, in his defence of Tinubu.

Von Batten-Montague-York questioned the authenticity of the document, citing what it described as several spelling, grammatical and formatting errors in the purported official correspondence.

Among the errors highlighted by the firm were “czheck” instead of “check” and “maitatins” instead of “maintains.”

It also questioned the use of “it’s territories” instead of “its territories” and the sentence, “The result of the checks were negative,” which it said should read, “The result of the check was negative.”

Other phrases flagged by the firm included “nor information of your department” and “contact me direct” instead of “contact me directly.”

The firm said the alleged errors made it difficult to accept the document as an authentic communication from a US government institution without independent verification.

The controversy comes amid renewed attention to Tinubu’s historical records in the United States and an ongoing legal battle over the release of records held by US federal agencies.

Omokri had recently argued that FBI records relating to Tinubu should not automatically be interpreted as criminal records, stressing that there is a distinction between ordinary FBI records and criminal records.

He also referred to a purported letter from the FBI that was transmitted through the US Embassy in Lagos to the Nigerian government.

Reacting to the development, Von Batten-Montague-York called for independent verification of the purported correspondence before it could be accepted as an authentic US government document.

The firm further warned that if a document presented as an official US government communication were found to have been fabricated, those responsible could face serious legal consequences under US law.

“Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and his associates are, as expected, spreading stories and documents to cloud the matter,” the firm alleged.

It added that if the document was not authentic, presenting a fabricated document as an official US government communication would be “a serious matter” that could have legal consequences.

US firm alleges Tinubu, associates forged purported US Embassy letter

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