A United States-based political advisory and lobbying firm has rejected speculation that President Bola Tinubu could be arrested during his expected trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
In a statement posted on its verified X account on Saturday, Von Batten-Montague-York said there is “no plan to arrest Nigerian President Bola Tinubu over his alleged involvement in heroin smuggling if he attends the UN General Assembly this month.” The firm described any claims to the contrary as untrue.
However, the firm asserted that the Nigerian leader “will be embarrassed in New York.”
Von Batten-Montague-York also restated its position that efforts to arrange a meeting between Tinubu and United States President Donald Trump would not succeed. It claimed neither a White House meeting nor a sideline encounter at the UNGA was being planned, arguing that previous allegations about Tinubu’s past made such an engagement inappropriate.
The firm repeated long-standing claims linking the president to heroin trafficking in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s. “The FBI claims that Tinubu was part of a criminal organisation that smuggled heroin from Nigeria into the United States during the 1980s and 1990s,” it stated.
These allegations have previously drawn attention in connection with a 1993 civil forfeiture case in which Tinubu forfeited $460,000 to the US government.
Von Batten-Montague-York said it would continue engaging officials in Washington. “We will continue to ensure that the White House and Congress fully understand that Nigerian President Tinubu is an alleged heroin trafficker and a liability to President Trump and the United States,” the firm added.
The statement comes amid ongoing speculation about Tinubu’s participation in the high-level UN gathering.
