United States-based political consultant and lobbyist Dr. Karl Von Batten has alleged that officials of the Nigerian government moved to oppose his reported appointment by President Donald Trump to the Commission on Presidential Scholars after his firm’s campaign concerning allegations linked to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s past.
Von Batten made the claims in a statement posted on X, saying his staff initially celebrated what they understood to be his appointment before he removed the announcement after what he described as pressure involving the Nigerian government and the White House.
The reported appointment has itself generated controversy. Von Batten-Montague-York announced on August 31 that Von Batten had been appointed by Trump to serve as a commissioner on the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. The firm subsequently deleted the announcement, while reporting at the time said the White House had not publicly confirmed the appointment.
According to Von Batten, the Nigerian government reacted to the announcement by contacting the White House and portraying his reported appointment as part of a political “proxy war” against Nigeria.
He said his staff had publicly thanked Trump for the appointment before he decided to take down the post.
Von Batten said he subsequently apologised to the White House because he supports Trump and did not want the appointment to become entangled in a dispute involving Nigeria.
His allegations about communications between Nigerian officials and the White House have not been independently established in the available public evidence.
Von Batten linked the controversy to his firm's ongoing campaign concerning allegations that President Tinubu was connected to heroin trafficking activities in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s.
He accused the Nigerian government of attempting to stop his work and declared that his resolve to pursue the matter remained unchanged.
The allegations are strongly contested and should not be interpreted as proof that Tinubu committed heroin trafficking offences.
Fact-checking published amid the wider controversy noted that US legal proceedings involving historical records connected to Tinubu are genuine, but that the proceedings do not establish a criminal conviction for heroin trafficking against the Nigerian president.
The controversy has also attracted attention because Von Batten's firm has a documented professional relationship with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
TheCable reported that Atiku hired Von Batten-Montague-York in 2026 under a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing, with the contract reportedly valued at $1.2 million annually and focused on protecting and strengthening Atiku's reputational standing in the United States.
The firm's relationship with an opposition political figure has become an important part of the political debate surrounding its activities concerning Tinubu, although that relationship alone does not establish whether Von Batten's allegations are true or false.
The latest dispute follows another allegation from Von Batten-Montague-York that its founder was offered $3 million and invited to a confidential meeting in London to stop its campaign concerning records linked to Tinubu.
The firm said it rejected the alleged offer and preserved communications relating to it.
However, independent fact-checking found no publicly available evidence establishing that the alleged offer came from the Tinubu administration or an authorised representative of the Nigerian government.
Despite the controversy surrounding the reported appointment, Von Batten said the episode had reinforced his determination to continue his campaign.
He directed a message at President Tinubu, saying his resolve remained unchanged and that the Nigerian president would be held accountable for what he described as an alleged role in heroin trafficking.
The Nigerian government has disputed the allegations surrounding Tinubu, while the broader controversy continues to unfold across Nigerian and American political circles.
The episode has consequently become part of a wider political dispute involving the Tinubu administration, Atiku's 2027 political campaign, US lobbying activities and competing claims over historical records concerning the Nigerian president.
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