FBI RECORDS: Tinubu can only attend UNGA but will be ’embarrassed’ over drug-trafficking allegations, US firm reveals, says lobbied meeting with Trump won’t happen
MAIN POINTS:
*Plans campaign within 6-mile radius of UN headquarters
*Claims world leaders already aware of 1990s heroin-trafficking allegations
The firm further claimed that leaders travelling to New York for the UNGA would already be aware of the allegations against Tinubu. “Unfortunately for President Tinubu, he is going to be embarrassed at the UN,” the firm said.
A United States lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., has threatened to launch a high-profile campaign against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during next month’s United Nations General Assembly in New York, warning that the Nigerian leader could face public embarrassment over allegations dating back to the 1990s.
The firm, in a statement circulated on social media, alleged that Tinubu struck a deal with US federal authorities in the 1990s that, according to its interpretation, prevents him from being prosecuted over alleged heroin-trafficking offences.
It nevertheless acknowledged that Tinubu, as Nigeria’s president, could travel to New York for the UNGA under the access and transit protections applicable to representatives of UN member states.
But the firm declared that Tinubu’s presence at the UN would not go unnoticed.
It claimed that the president’s much-anticipated meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UNGA was unlikely to happen, alleging that senior members of the Trump administration had indicated that Trump would not hold a private meeting with a Nigerian president facing heroin-trafficking allegations.
The firm further claimed that leaders travelling to New York for the UNGA would already be aware of the allegations against Tinubu.
“Unfortunately for President Tinubu, he is going to be embarrassed at the UN,” the firm said.
In an even more provocative warning, Von Batten-Montague-York said it had a plan to take the allegations directly to residents around the UN headquarters.
“If we are authorized, we will put into operation our plan to ensure every New Yorker within a six-mile radius of UN Headquarters learns about President Tinubu’s alleged role in smuggling poison (heroin) onto American soil,” it said.
The statement threatens to turn Tinubu’s expected appearance at the UNGA into a major public-relations battle, with the lobbying firm promising to use the gathering of world leaders to draw renewed attention to the long-running allegations.
The claims, however, remain allegations by the US lobbying firm and should not be construed as a judicial finding that Tinubu committed heroin trafficking or any other criminal offence.
The controversy comes as scrutiny continues in the United States over records relating to allegations involving Tinubu from the 1990s.
With world leaders expected in New York for the UNGA, the lobbying firm’s threat raises the prospect of an unusually charged international spotlight on the Nigerian president.
