A United States-based political advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has explained why it deleted a post announcing the alleged appointment of its leader, Dr Karl Von Batten, by US President Donald Trump.
In a post on its verified X handle on Saturday, the firm claimed it removed the post after the White House informed Von Batten that the Nigerian government had repeatedly called to complain about the appointment.
According to the firm, it was never its intention for the Nigerian government to inundate the White House with phone calls, adding that Von Batten apologised to the White House for the alleged inconvenience.
The firm further claimed that President Bola Tinubu and his associates were uncomfortable with its work concerning allegations surrounding the President’s past in the United States.
It also accused Tinubu’s spokespersons and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, of attacking the organisation.
The firm wrote: “For the record, we deleted the post after the White House informed Dr Von Batten that the Nigerian government was repeatedly calling and ‘whining’ about the appointment.
“Nigerian President Bola Tinubu is so afraid of our work concerning the allegations of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, that he was part of a group that smuggled heroin from Nigeria into the United States during the 1980s and 1990s, that Dr Von Batten is basically living rent-free in his head.
“First, it was President Tinubu’s spokespersons who attacked us. Now it is Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo. We fully expect the next high-ranking Nigerian official to attack us will be Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima.
“Nigerians should ask themselves: Why is the entire Nigerian government afraid of one man named Dr Karl Von Batten?
“The Nigerian Presidency is so afraid that it originally lied and claimed that Dr Von Batten was never appointed by US President Donald Trump to a White House Commission.
“Then everyone in the Nigerian Presidency began calling the White House nonstop until the White House confirmed that President Trump had indeed appointed Dr Von Batten to the Commission on Presidential Scholars.
“Now that the Presidency’s lie has collapsed, like children throwing a tantrum, they have seized on the fact that we deleted the appointment announcement.”
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