APC chieftain Bashir Ahmad has dismissed claims that United States President Donald Trump will refuse to meet Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly, describing the allegation as a politically motivated attack.
The controversy followed a statement from US lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, which claimed that a private meeting between Tinubu and Trump, reportedly being pursued by the Nigerian president, would not take place at the UN General Assembly.
The firm further alleged that some senior members of the Trump administration had made it clear that Trump would not hold a private meeting with Tinubu over allegations linking the Nigerian president to heroin trafficking.
Bashir: Allegations Against Tinubu Are Not Convictions
Reacting to the claim, Bashir Ahmad strongly criticised the statement, arguing that serious allegations should not be presented as established facts without credible evidence or due process.
He described the claim about Trump refusing to meet Tinubu as a political attack being presented with an unwarranted level of certainty.
According to Bashir, Tinubu remains the democratically elected President of Nigeria, and allegations against him cannot automatically be treated as proven facts simply because they are repeatedly circulated.
He stressed that accusations of such seriousness must be examined through credible evidence and proper legal procedures rather than being used to support a particular political narrative.
APC Chieftain Questions Claim About Trump-Tinubu Meeting
Bashir also challenged the assertion that Trump would deliberately refuse to meet Tinubu or that the Nigerian president would be embarrassed during the UN General Assembly.
He argued that such claims should not be treated as official until they are confirmed by the White House or the appropriate US diplomatic authorities.
“Unless the White House or the relevant diplomatic authorities make such a position official, these claims are nothing more than speculation presented as fact,” Bashir said.
The dispute comes ahead of the UN General Assembly, where world leaders are expected to gather for high-level diplomatic engagements. Any meeting between Tinubu and Trump would likely attract significant attention given the importance of US-Nigeria relations.
For now, Bashir maintains that claims about a planned Trump-Tinubu snub should be treated with caution until there is an official statement from the US government.
