A United States-based political advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking full details of the $700 billion mining agreement between Nigeria and the United States.
The firm announced the move in a statement published on its verified X account on Thursday, accusing President Bola Tinubu’s administration of failing to make the details of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) available to Nigerians.
It said the decision followed growing public demands for transparency regarding the agreement signed by the Nigerian Presidency and the United States government.
According to the firm, the Tinubu administration has entered into several agreements with European countries and borrowed billions of dollars without adequately informing Nigerians about the details.
“This time around, he is not dealing with Europe, and we are not in Nigeria. We are in the United States, a country where the rule of law still exists,” it said.
Von Batten-Montague-York disclosed that it submitted the FOIA request to the United States Department of State on Thursday morning, seeking a copy of the signed mining MoU and all documents relating to the negotiations that led to the agreement.
“Nigerians want to know what was signed in their names regarding their God-given natural resources,” it added.
The firm also argued that American citizens have a legitimate interest in understanding the terms of the agreement and the safeguards established to protect communities affected by mining activities.
It pledged to make the documents public once they are obtained.
“We fully support the United States’ push to secure access to critical minerals, but we strongly believe that the United States must not become like China while trying to outcompete China,” it said.
The Nigerian Presidency had yet to issue a response to the firm’s FOIA filing as of the time of the report.
