A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bashir Ahmad, has criticised a United States lobbying firm over its claim that President Bola Tinubu will not meet US President Donald Trump during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, had stated that a meeting it claimed Tinubu had been pushing for with Trump at the UNGA would not take place.
It further alleged that key members of the Trump administration had made it clear that the US president would not meet privately with Tinubu, whom the firm described as an “alleged heroin trafficker.”
Reacting to the claim, Ahmad dismissed it as a political attack “dressed up as certainty.”
He argued that Tinubu is the democratically elected President of Nigeria and that allegations, regardless of how frequently they are repeated, do not amount to convictions.
“Serious accusations should be tested against credible evidence and due process, not presented as facts simply because they fit a particular political narrative,” Ahmad said.
The APC chieftain also criticised the firm for predicting that Trump would refuse to meet Tinubu and that the Nigerian president would be embarrassed at the United Nations.
“It is equally irresponsible to declare, in advance, that President Donald Trump will refuse to meet President Tinubu or that the Nigerian President will be embarrassed at the United Nations,” he said.
Ahmad maintained that unless the White House or relevant US diplomatic authorities officially announce such a position, claims about a potential Trump-Tinubu meeting should be treated as speculation rather than established fact.
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