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A Washington-based lobbying firm hired by African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., has said that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s reported efforts to secure the support of United States President Donald Trump have failed.
Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., said in a post on X that a proposed meeting between Tinubu and Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly would no longer take place.
The firm also claimed that it had undermined what it described as a reported $9 million lobbying campaign aimed at winning over Trump.
“We have learned that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, Dr. Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to President Tinubu, and their supporters are deeply unhappy with us, particularly with our founder, Dr. Von Batten, over our work destroying their reported $9 million lobbying campaign to win over President Trump,” the firm said.
“We understand their frustration, and we would like to play the world’s smallest violin for their sorrows.”
The lobbying firm then declared that Tinubu’s reported efforts to secure a meeting with Trump had failed.
“The effort to secure President Trump’s support for Tinubu has failed. The pushed White House meeting is not going to happen. The effort to secure U.S. support for Tinubu’s presidential campaign has failed.”
However, the White House, the Nigerian government, or any official U.S. source has not independently confirmed these claims.
No publicly available confirmation from either government shows that a Tinubu-Trump meeting was formally scheduled for the UN General Assembly, making the firm’s assertion that such a meeting is “dead” difficult to verify independently.
The statement marks the latest escalation in a dispute that has increasingly shifted Nigeria’s 2027 political contest into Washington.
Atiku, the ADC presidential candidate, hired Von Batten-Montague-York under a 12-month lobbying and strategic advisory agreement reportedly worth $1.2 million, according to documents filed with the United States Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The agreement covers strategic advisory services, engagement with the US Congress and executive branch, and efforts to strengthen Atiku’s reputation and policy standing among American policymakers.
The firm’s relationship with Atiku has become central to the Presidency’s criticism of its recent activities.
In a statement, Presidential spokesman Sunday Dare described Von Batten’s comments as the position of “an individual associated with Atiku-linked political interests,” not the US government or Trump.
Dare accused the opposition-linked campaign of attempting to link Tinubu’s movements in Europe to ongoing Freedom of Information Act proceedings in the United States.
The Presidency also described the campaign as a politically motivated attempt to revive decades-old US legal records involving Tinubu ahead of the 2027 election.
Von Batten-Montague-York rejected that characterisation in its latest post, accusing the Tinubu administration of responding to political setbacks by attacking the firm and its founder.
“You spent millions of dollars and countless hours trying to shape Washington’s perception of President Tinubu,” the firm said.
“If your response to failure is to invent false stories about our work and Dr. Von Batten, then you have learned nothing from that failure.”
The firm added: “We are just a lobbying firm. You are the Federal Government of Nigeria. Show some dignity when you lose.”
The reference to a $9 million campaign appears to relate to reports of Nigeria’s engagement of Washington lobbying firm DCI Group.
Reporting on the arrangement indicates that the Nigerian government’s engagement was connected to government relations and strategic communications, including efforts to address U.S. concerns about insecurity and the protection of Christian communities, as well as broader US-Nigeria relations.
The publicly reported purpose of the contract, however, does not, by itself, establish that the entire $9 million was intended to secure Trump’s political endorsement of Tinubu or guarantee a meeting between the two presidents.
In recent months, Von Batten-Montague-York has taken an increasingly active role in promoting historical US records connected to a 1990s civil forfeiture case involving Tinubu and sharing materials with US government and congressional officials.
The firm has said it has submitted documents relating to the case to members of the Trump administration and Congress, while also publicly criticising the Tinubu administration over political and human rights issues in Nigeria.
We have learned that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu (@officialABAT), Dr. Sunday Dare (@SundayDareSD), Special Adviser to President #Tinubu, and their supporters are deeply unhappy with us, particularly with our founder, Dr. Von Batten, over our work destroying their reported $9… pic.twitter.com/oEik7upEb0
— Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. (@batten_von) September 1, 2026
