A US lobbying firm hired by former Vice president Atiku Abubakar has questioned the authenticity of a letter allegedly sent by President Donald Trump to Bola Tinubu, demanding the release of the original document.
The firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, raised the concerns in a statement on X after comparing the version circulated by a Tinubu-linked account with an authentic Trump letter to Argentine President Javier Milei.
“A Tale of Two Letters: On the left, we have an actual copy of President @realDonaldTrump’s letter to Argentine President @JMilei. On the right, we have what an account linked to President #Tinubu… has posted as President Trump’s letter to President Tinubu. The difference is beyond clear,” the firm stated.
The organisation stressed it was not definitively claiming fabrication but highlighted the unusual decision to release only a typed transcript rather than a scanned image of a signed original on official stationery.
“We are not saying that a standard diplomatic response letter was never sent to President Tinubu. Nor are we saying that President Tinubu fabricated the purported letter… What we are saying is that it is unusual for a letter to be quoted in full, including the date and signature block, rather than simply publishing an image of the actual letter itself,” the firm added.
“Until the actual letter is released, whether real or fake, Nigerians must understand that Tinubu is trying to fool you.”
The purported Trump correspondence, shared widely by the Nigerian presidency, praised Tinubu’s leadership on security issues, including violence against Christian communities, and referenced US support through a defence cooperation roadmap and deployment of Special Operations Forces.
In contrast, the verified letter to Milei was released as a scanned document bearing Trump’s signature.
