A Washington lobbying firm Von Batten Montague York LC has issued a fresh statement saying it scored a major win by helping stop Nigerian President Bola Tinubu from getting a face to face meeting with US President Donald Trump.
According to reported Tinubu allegedly wanted that meeting so he could win Trumps endorsement for a second term in Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election. It said the fight is not over.
The firm made clear that it does not speak for President Trump or the United States government. It said its job as lobbyists and advocates is to put the strongest arguments and evidence before every branch of the US government. It said American officials alone make the final call after they study the facts.
The firm said every victory comes by the grace of Almighty God and that God gives it the strength to keep fighting for its clients and for what it believes serves the United States and the American people. It called the blocked in person meeting a major blow to Tinubu and to his bid to advance his political aims in Washington including a hoped for US stamp of approval ahead of his reelection drive.
It said the people of Nigeria deserve free and fair elections and that only Nigerians can choose their political destiny. The firm said its role is to oppose efforts to win US support for Tinubu, to challenge claims made to the US government that it believes are false or misleading, and to resist any attempt to use mining or mineral rights to shape US policy or to present Tinubu as Washingtons chosen candidate for a second term.
The firm said it stands with the good people of Nigeria and that it is time for the Giant of Africa to rise again. The message was directed at US House and Senate foreign affairs committees, the State Department, Africa policy officials, the White House, and senior aides to President Trump.
Von Batten Montague York is a Republican aligned policy and lobbying firm based in Washington. Public records show former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar hired it in March 2026 under a twelve month contract worth about 1.2 million dollars to raise his standing in US policy circles and counter Nigerian government talking points ahead of the 2027 presidential race.
The new statement follows weeks of pressure over a hoped for meeting between Tinubu and Trump around the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The firm had already said that meeting, a possible White House visit, and any US endorsement of Tinubu for a second term were dead. It also said a reported Nigerian government lobbying drive in Washington had cost about 9 million dollars in taxpayer money.
The firm has circulated more than 60 pages of old US Justice Department records from a 1993 civil forfeiture case linked to alleged heroin trafficking in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Those papers name Tinubu among others and describe money said to have gone into US bank accounts. Later court fights under the Freedom of Information Act and recent FBI filings, the firm says, confirm searches for records on Tinubu involving a drug trafficking inquiry, controlled buys, grand jury work, and electronic surveillance.
Tinubu did not attend the 81st UN General Assembly in person. Vice President Kashim Shettima led Nigerias team. Nigerian officials had earlier spoken of talks with Trump on the sidelines. Neither the White House nor the Nigerian presidency has publicly confirmed that a private meeting was booked or cancelled.
Around the same time Nigerian officials signed a non binding mining memorandum in New York. The firm warned that promises of mines or mineral rights should not be used to win political favor or to cast Tinubu as Americas preferred leader heading into 2027.
The firm closed by saying Nigerians must set their own course through a free and fair vote and that its campaign in Washington will continue.
