A US advocacy firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has called on the Donald Trump administration to publish the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with Nigeria on critical minerals.
The MOU was signed on September 24, 2026 on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake and US Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau. It covers geological data, exploration, mineral processing, infrastructure and technical capacity.
Von Batten, which works for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, said publishing the full document would dispel allegations of corruption and “pay-to-play” surrounding the deal.
In a post on X, the firm said: “The integrity of the United States is on the line. Democrats are openly signaling plans to investigate the Donald Trump Administration’s critical-minerals deals and the officials involved.”
The firm claimed Democrats in the US House have told it that if they win back the House, they will include any US-Nigeria mining deal and the role of Trump officials for Africa in broader oversight investigations.
The firm also earlier claimed the deal was one of the proposals President Bola Tinubu offered in exchange for a meeting with Trump at the UN, a claim that has not been independently verified. It claimed its intervention led to the planned UN signing with Tinubu being cancelled, with Tinubu staying in France.
Neither the Nigerian Presidency nor the US State Department has issued an official response to the latest demand for disclosure.
