A United States-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York L.C., has announced fresh efforts aimed at discouraging any proposed meeting between President Bola Tinubu and United States President Donald Trump during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.
The firm was reacting to comments by Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim.
Ibrahim had during a television interview weeks ago stated that President Tinubu was expected to hold talks with President Trump on the sidelines of next month’s UN General Assembly.
Reacting in a post published on its X account, the Washington-based lobbying firm said it had forwarded the video of Jimoh Ibrahim’s remarks to senior officials in the Trump administration.
It added that it would also share the material with members of the United States Congress and officials of the State Department.
According to the firm, it believes any meeting between Tinubu and Trump could be interpreted by some Nigerians as an endorsement of the Nigerian president despite longstanding controversies surrounding historical court records in the United States.
The lobbying firm stated that it intends to continue briefing American officials on the matter.
It also said its chairman, Dr. Von Batten, plans to personally brief President Trump on the issues it described as relevant to any future engagement with the Nigerian leader.
In its statement, the firm wrote: “We have shared the video below with senior members of President @realDonaldTrump Administration. In the coming days, we will also share it with Members of Congress and the State Department.”
It added: “President Tinubu and his associates are attempting to convince Nigerians and the world that President Trump condones the drug trafficking allegations against Tinubu.”
The group further stated: “As we have stated before, President Trump does not tolerate drug trafficking. We will continue briefing the White House on these developments, and Dr. Von Batten fully intends to brief President Trump directly regarding the drug trafficking allegations against Bola Tinubu.”
However, neither the Presidency nor the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had publicly responded to the latest statement by the lobbying firm as of the time of filing this report.
POLITICS NIGERIA recalls that in July, the same lobbying firm announced that it had begun distributing documents relating to the historical United States civil forfeiture case involving President Tinubu to officials in the Trump administration, members of Congress and senior congressional staff.
The firm disclosed that the exercise formed part of its engagement in Washington after it was retained earlier in the year by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar under a reported 12-month lobbying agreement.
It said the objective included strengthening Atiku’s engagement with American policymakers while countering what it described as the Nigerian government’s lobbying efforts in the United States.
According to the lobbying firm, it supplied more than 60 pages of historical court filings, Department of Justice documents and related records to American officials.
At the time, the organisation said: “Following discussions with members of the @realDonaldTrump Administration, Congress, and senior congressional staff, we began providing more than 60 pages of @TheJusticeDept documents…”
Responding to criticism over his decision to engage American lobbyists, Atiku defended the move and dismissed claims that it was directed against Nigeria’s national interest.
He said: “My engagement is about ensuring that the truth is known. It is not against Nigeria but in defence of accountability and the rule of law.”
The Presidency, however, faulted the lobbying effort and accused the former vice president of attempting to damage Nigeria’s international image for political gain.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga described the campaign as counterproductive and insisted that Nigeria’s diplomatic relations with the United States remained intact.
