By Sunday Ameh
A United States-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York L.C., has moved to stop any proposed meeting between President Bola Tinubu and United States President Donald Trump during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The Washington-based firm disclosed this in a statement posted on X, saying it had already forwarded comments made by Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, to senior officials in the Trump administration.
The development follows Ibrahim’s recent television interview in which he disclosed that President Tinubu was expected to meet with President Trump on the sidelines of next month’s UN General Assembly.
Reacting to the claim, the lobbying firm said it would also circulate the video of Ibrahim’s remarks to members of the United States Congress and officials of the US State Department.
According to the firm, it is opposed to any meeting between Tinubu and Trump, arguing that such an engagement could be interpreted by some Nigerians as an endorsement of the Nigerian president despite what it described as longstanding controversies surrounding historical court records in the United States.
“We have shared the video with senior members of President Donald Trump’s administration. In the coming days, we will also share it with Members of Congress and the State Department,” the firm stated.
It further alleged that President Tinubu and his associates were attempting to portray any potential meeting with Trump as an indication that the US president condones allegations previously made against Tinubu.
The proposed meeting between the two leaders has not been officially confirmed by either the Nigerian Presidency or the White House.
Leave a Reply