A United States-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York L.C., has stepped up efforts to discourage a proposed meeting between President Bola Tinubu and United States President Donald Trump during the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The Washington-based firm disclosed this in a statement posted on its official X account, following comments by Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, who recently stated in a television interview that President Tinubu was expected to meet President Trump on the sidelines of next month’s UN General Assembly.
Reacting to the remarks, the lobbying firm said it had forwarded the video of Ibrahim’s interview to senior officials in the Trump administration and would also circulate it among members of the U.S. 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 what it described as unresolved controversies surrounding historical U.S. court records involving Tinubu. It added that it would continue briefing American officials on the matter.
The firm’s chairman, Dr. Von Batten, also expressed his intention to personally brief President Trump on issues the organisation considers relevant to any future engagement with the Nigerian leader.
In the statement, the firm said: “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 further alleged that President Tinubu and his associates were attempting to portray any potential meeting with President Trump as evidence that the U.S. leader condoned past allegations linked to the Nigerian president.
The organisation maintained that it would continue to provide information to the White House, insisting that President Trump “does not tolerate drug trafficking,” while reaffirming its plan to brief him directly on the allegations against Tinubu.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Presidency nor the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued any official response to the lobbying firm’s latest claims.
The latest development comes weeks after the same lobbying firm announced that it had begun distributing documents relating to the historical U.S. civil forfeiture case involving President Tinubu to officials in the Trump administration, members of Congress and senior congressional staff.
The firm said the exercise was part of a lobbying engagement in Washington after it was retained earlier this year by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar under a reported 12-month contract. It said the engagement was aimed at strengthening Atiku’s relationship with American policymakers while countering what it described as the Nigerian government’s lobbying efforts in the United States.
According to the organisation, it provided more than 60 pages of historical court filings, U.S. Department of Justice documents and related records to American officials.
Responding to criticism over hiring American lobbyists, Atiku defended the decision, saying the engagement was intended to promote accountability and the rule of law rather than undermine Nigeria’s national interest.
The Presidency, however, rejected the lobbying campaign, accusing the former vice president of attempting to damage Nigeria’s international image for political advantage. Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga described the move as counterproductive and maintained that Nigeria’s diplomatic relationship with the United States remained strong.
