US firm initiates moves to stop Tinubu’s meeting with Trump at UN General Assembly

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 at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.

In a post on X, the Washington-based lobbying firm was reacting to comments by Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim.

The firm said it had forwarded the video of Jimoh Ibrahim’s remarks to senior officials in the Trump administration.

During a television interview some weeks ago, Ibrahim announced that President Tinubu was expected to hold talks with President Trump on the sidelines of next month’s UN General Assembly.

Reacting, the firm said it would also share the material with members of the United States Congress and officials of the State Department.

It added that 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.

“We have shared the video with senior members of President Donald Trump Administration. In the coming days, we will also share it with Members of Congress and the State Department.

“President Tinubu and his associates are attempting to convince Nigerians and the world that President Trump condones the drug trafficking allegations against Tinubu,” the firm said in the statement posted on X.