Abuja (AFP) – A US lobbying firm working for a Nigerian opposition leader said one of its top employees was appointed to a White House commission, ahead of presidential elections in Africa’s most populous country. The apparent embrace of Karl Von Batten by the Trump administration could complicate US-Nigeria relations, as his firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, is actively pushing against President Bola Tinubu, who is seeking re-election in January.
“Dr. Von Batten is deeply grateful to President Trump (The Chief) for this appointment and for the confidence placed in him,” the Washington-based lobbying group said in a statement Wednesday evening. It said Von Batten would be serving on an unspecified White House commission. Von Batten-Montague-York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this year, the firm signed a 12-month agreement worth $1.2 million with Atiku Abubakar, who is contesting the Nigerian presidency. The deal aimed to “advance understanding within US policymaking institutions” of Abubakar’s “leadership posture and policy vision,” according to disclosure forms viewed by AFP. Notably, the firm has pushed to bring Tinubu’s past entanglements with US drug enforcement into the spotlight, including by launching Freedom of Information Act requests and lawsuits for US records relating to the president.
According to filings in a court in Chicago in 1993, nearly $2 million accrued from a heroin-trafficking network was suspected to have transited through Tinubu’s US bank accounts, AFP reported ahead of Tinubu’s election in 2023.
– Tense US-Nigeria relations –
Tinubu, who strongly denied any wrongdoing and was never convicted of a crime, reached an agreement with the US authorities, who seized $460,000 from an account in his name in a “drug-related seizure of property.” Tinubu has had a rocky relationship with Washington over the past year.
In 2025, the US stepped up diplomatic pressure on Nigeria, accusing it of not doing enough to protect Christians amid the country’s myriad armed conflicts. The accusation that Christians face “persecution” or even “genocide” — long popular among the religious right but disputed by independent analysts and the Nigerian government — appeared to have found purchase among the right-wing Trump administration.
The US launched strikes against what it said were Islamic State-linked targets in northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day. Nigeria launched its own multimillion-dollar lobbying blitz in response to the US pressure. While diplomatic gaps remain, Abuja has found common ground with Washington in increasing military cooperation, including with a US troop deployment to Nigeria and a major joint operation against Islamic State fighters in May.
© 2024 AFP
