A United States-based policy advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has threatened to mount a public campaign against President Bola Tinubu during the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York over allegations linking him to heroin trafficking in the 1990s.
The firm made the threat in a post on 𝕏 on Monday, claiming that the President would face embarrassment if he attends the UNGA scheduled for next month.
According to the organisation, Tinubu would be able to travel to New York for the UNGA despite the allegations, citing protections available to representatives of UN member states.
It also claimed that Tinubu’s reported plan to meet United States President, Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the UNGA would not materialise.
The firm alleged that officials within the Trump administration had indicated that the US President would not hold a private meeting with Tinubu because of the drug-trafficking allegations.
The lobbying group wrote, “As a result of the alleged deal he made with federal authorities during the 1990s, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu cannot be prosecuted for his alleged heroin-trafficking crimes. As President of Nigeria, he can travel to New York to attend the UN General Assembly (UNGA) under the access and transit protections afforded to representatives of UN member states (June 26, 1947, §§ 11–13, 61 Stat. 3416, T.I.A.S. No. 1676, 11 U.N.T.S. 11.).
“This being the case, we look forward to President Tinubu attending the UNGA next month. Unfortunately for President Tinubu, he is going to be embarrassed at the UN. The meeting President Tinubu has been pushing for with President Donald Trump at the UNGA will not happen. Key members of the Trump Administration have made it clear that President Trump is not going to meet privately with an alleged heroin trafficker.
“Furthermore, from reports we have seen, from South Africa to Italy, world leaders attending the UNGA will be fully aware of the heroin-trafficking allegations against President Tinubu. If we are authorised, 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.”
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