Atiku’s US Lobbyist Karl Von Batten Deletes Trump Commission Claim as White House Stays Silent
A controversy has erupted after Karl Von Batten, the Washington-based lobbyist retained by African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, deleted a social media post announcing his purported appointment to a White House presidential commission by US President Donald Trump.
Von Batten’s firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., had announced on Wednesday via its verified X account that Trump had appointed its managing partner as a commissioner on a White House presidential commission, without identifying the specific commission or detailing his intended responsibilities. In the now-deleted post, the firm described the appointment as a tremendous honour reflecting Von Batten’s longstanding commitment to public service and leadership, expressing gratitude to the president for the confidence placed in him. The post was subsequently removed, with checks on the firm’s official page later showing the content was no longer available, though the firm’s X account itself remained active. It could not be immediately established whether the post was taken down voluntarily or removed by the platform, and no official explanation for its deletion has been offered by either the firm or the White House.
The purported appointment quickly drew a reaction from within the Nigerian government, with presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare downplaying its significance. According to Dare, the appointment in question relates to the Commission on Presidential Scholars, an education-focused panel administered by the US Department of Education, which he said carries no responsibility for American foreign policy, national security, diplomacy, or relations with Nigeria. Von Batten did not directly dispute Dare’s characterisation of the role, responding instead with an effusive statement praising Trump as the greatest American president and describing it as an honour to even be considered for any role connected to his administration, whether paid or unpaid.
The episode drew particular attention in Nigeria given Von Batten’s ongoing engagement on behalf of Atiku, who hired the lobbying firm earlier this year under a 12-month agreement reportedly valued at $1.2 million, aimed at protecting and strengthening his reputational standing in the United States ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Since taking on the engagement, the firm has intensified its public scrutiny of President Bola Tinubu, who is seeking re-election, including filing Freedom of Information Act requests and lawsuits seeking records tied to Tinubu’s past interactions with US drug enforcement authorities. Von Batten has also claimed to have briefed senior members of Trump’s team on allegations concerning the misappropriation of US-funded World Bank loans by senior Nigerian government officials, allegations that remain unverified.
The controversy comes at a particularly sensitive moment in US-Nigeria relations, which have grown increasingly strained over the past year amid allegations of religious persecution in Nigeria, along with related US sanctions and visa restrictions targeting Nigerian officials. With no official confirmation or denial yet issued by the White House regarding the exact nature of Von Batten’s role, the circumstances surrounding the deleted announcement remain unresolved, leaving unanswered questions about the true scope of his purported appointment and its implications for the ongoing lobbying effort tied to Nigeria’s 2027 political contest.
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