Atiku’s lobbyist deletes Trump appointment post after Tinubu aide’s comment

Former Vice President Atiku’s lobbyist, Karl Von Batten, has deleted his social media post in which he announced that United States President Donald Trump appointed him as a commissioner to a White House presidential commission.

Checks on the verified X account of his firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., where the post was published, show that the post is no longer available.

Von Batten’s firm had earlier announced that President Trump appointed its managing partner as a commissioner, but Sunday Dare, one of President Tinubu’s media aides, downplayed the announcement, saying that the appointment was to the Commission on Presidential Scholars, an education panel administered by the United States Department of Education.

Dare said the commission has no responsibility for American foreign policy, national security, diplomacy, or relations with Nigeria.

Karl Von Batten is a Washington-based lobbyist and managing partner of the firm Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., which was hired by Atiku to strengthen his reputational standing in the US.

He has also been actively pushing for the release of US law enforcement records concerning President Bola Tinubu’s alleged links to drug trafficking.