Von Batten-Montague-York: Tinubu Presidency ‘Afraid’ of Our Work on Alleged FBI Heroin Records
*Reply Festus Keyamo on deletion of his Trump appointment post
*Says deleting not admitting it’s false
“First, it was President Tinubu’s spokesperson who attacked us. Then his official adviser. Now it is Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation,” the firm said. It added that it expected another senior government official, potentially Vice-President Kashim Shettima, to join the criticism.
The United States-based lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York has accused the Nigerian government of mounting a sustained campaign against its work concerning allegations contained in U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records relating to President Bola Tinubu.
In a statement, the firm alleged that President Tinubu was increasingly concerned about its activities surrounding claims that he was part of a group involved in smuggling heroin from Nigeria into the United States during the 1980s and 1990s.
The firm said the alleged concern had resulted in attacks from several senior Nigerian government officials, beginning with the President’s spokesperson, followed by presidential adviser Adebayo Onanuga and, most recently, Minister of Aviation Festus Keyamo.
“First, it was President Tinubu’s spokesperson who attacked us. Then his official adviser. Now it is Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation,” the firm said.
It added that it expected another senior government official, potentially Vice-President Kashim Shettima, to join the criticism.
The firm challenged Nigerians to ask why, in its words, “the entire Nigerian government” appeared concerned about the activities of one man, Dr Karl Von Batten.
Von Batten-Montague-York further alleged that the Presidency initially denied that Von Batten had been appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars.
According to the firm, the Nigerian Presidency subsequently contacted the White House repeatedly before the appointment was confirmed.
“The Nigerian Presidency is so afraid that it originally lied and claimed that Dr. Von Batten was never appointed by President Trump to a White House Commission,” the statement alleged.
The firm said that following confirmation of the appointment, Nigerian officials shifted their attention to the removal of an announcement concerning the appointment from its platforms.
Explaining the deletion, the firm said it removed the announcement after the White House reportedly informed Von Batten that Nigerian government officials had repeatedly contacted the White House concerning the appointment.
“For the record, we deleted the post after the White House informed Dr. Von Batten that the Nigerian government was repeatedly calling and ‘whining’ about the appointment,” the statement said.
The firm maintained that the deletion was not an admission that the appointment was false, but was instead intended to prevent further inconvenience to the White House.
Von Batten-Montague-York said Von Batten subsequently apologised to the White House for the alleged inconvenience and pledged to continue pursuing the issues surrounding the FBI records.
The latest statement comes amid an ongoing legal dispute in the United States over the release of records relating to allegations concerning President Tinubu.
