WASHINGTON — Washington-based lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., engaged by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has claimed that recent high-level diplomatic outreach to Washington by President Bola Tinubu’s administration met a cold reception at the U.S. State Department.
In a statement posted on its official X handle, the firm disclosed that it briefed senior advisers to Atiku Abubakar regarding the Washington engagements between Nigerian officials and the U.S. State Department, describing the talks as an unsuccessful attempt to secure a White House hosting engagement with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The firm asserted that while the United States maintains bilateral cooperation with Nigeria on shared regional interests, the U.S. government will not throw political backing behind President Tinubu, citing decades-old allegations and court records involving U.S. Department of Justice forfeiture proceedings.
Pointing to diplomatic protocol, the lobbying firm noted that the official Nigerian delegation was led by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and met by Under Secretary of State Allison Hooker, rather than a formal bilateral ministerial meeting led by Foreign Minister Bianca Ojukwu and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
According to the firm, the low-level diplomatic engagement sent an unspoken but deliberate signal regarding the Trump administration’s posture toward the current Nigerian leadership.
“You can send the entire Nigerian government next time, but we will continue to work to ensure that it does not change the reality in DC,” the statement read, adding that President Trump will not endorse President Tinubu ahead of Nigeria’s upcoming presidential election.
Neither the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the National Security Adviser, nor the Presidency has issued an official statement responding to the lobby group’s claims at the time of publication.
