Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has been offered an appointment by an international lobbying firm, Ballard Partners. The firm was responsible for facilitating the United States trip of the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2019 presidential election. The trip was meant to dismiss a long held notion that Abubakar was unable to travel to the US after being the subject of a probe 14 years ago, by a US Senate Permanent sub-committee on alleged money laundering activities against him, including being an alleged recipient of a bribe by Siemens.
Although he wasn’t indicted, the US remained dodgy declaring his status. Atiku was alleged to have paid Brian Ballard, founder of the firm and one of the most powerful lobbyists in America, over $1 million to facilitate that trip and get the then Donald Trump administration’s endorsement ahead of the election.
Mohammed’s new position in the firm is Managing Partner and he will head the firm’s first office in Africa, in Abuja precisely. The appointment will no doubt be more or less a continuation of his past role as minister where he managed the image of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari and by extension, Nigeria while fencing off anything that looks even remotely close to being an opposition to his principal or the nation. No doubt, Mohammed’s appointment is considered a strategic move to get the firm to penetrate the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
