A United States-based lobbying firm has claimed that efforts by President Bola Tinubu to secure an endorsement from US President Donald Trump ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election have failed.
Von Batten-Montague-York, a US-based firm engaged by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, made the claim in a statement posted on its X account on Monday.
The firm alleged that a planned meeting between Mr Tinubu and Mr Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York would no longer take place.
It further claimed that the Nigerian president’s reported attempt to secure Mr Trump’s backing for the 2027 election had collapsed.
According to the firm, securing a meeting with Mr Trump and obtaining his endorsement was a central objective of Mr Tinubu’s planned engagement at the UN General Assembly.
It also alleged that about $9m (£6.7m) in Nigerian taxpayers’ money had been spent on the lobbying effort.
The claims come after Nigeria’s Presidency announced that Mr Tinubu would not personally attend the 81st UN General Assembly, with Vice-President Kashim Shettima instead leading the country’s delegation.
Mr Shettima is expected to deliver Nigeria’s national statement and hold bilateral meetings with foreign leaders, international organisations and development partners during the gathering.
The lobbying firm did not provide publicly available evidence in its statement to substantiate its claims about the alleged $9m expenditure or the reasons behind the reported cancellation of the meeting.
The Presidency has not, in the reports reviewed, publicly confirmed that Mr Tinubu was seeking an endorsement from President Trump or that such a meeting was cancelled because of the alleged lobbying effort.
Mr Tinubu attended the UN General Assembly in 2023, while Vice-President Shettima represented him at the 2024 and 2025 sessions.
