A LIFE UNDER SCRUTINY: The man Atiku hired to shape his US image

The name Karl Von Batten has attracted renewed attention in Nigeria after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar engaged his Washington-based lobbying firm in a $1.2m-a-year contract ahead of the 2027 political contest.

Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. was hired in April 2026 to protect and strengthen Atiku’s “reputational standing” in the United States, according to a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing submitted to the US Department of Justice.

The agreement, which has generated political reactions in Nigeria, was signed for Atiku by Fabiyi Oladimeji, a politician and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, while Karl Von Batten signed for his lobbying company.

However, beyond the value of the contract, questions have emerged over the lobbyist’s names, educational history, military background and links to African governments.

A name with several versions

On his LinkedIn profile, Von Batten identifies himself by the considerably longer name “Karl-Marx Edward Ikemefuna William George Okeke-Von Batten”.

The combination includes names associated with Germany and Austria alongside Ikemefuna and Okeke, which are commonly found among Nigerians from the South-East, while Batten has British origins.

His professional documents have also carried different versions of his name, with the 2026 FARA filing using Karl Von Batten and a 2022 lobbying agreement involving regions of northern Somalia/Somaliland identifying him as Karl-Marx Okeke-Von Batten.

The circumstances behind the different names remain unclear, with enquiries sent to Von Batten seeking clarification about his background and roots.

Claims of military service

Von Batten presents himself as a supporter of United States President Donald Trump and a member of the Republican Party, while his LinkedIn profile lists the University of Oxford, Columbia University, Harvard University and New York Institute of Technology among his alma maters.

Von Batten posted a photo of himself in a US Army uniform in 2025

An archived 2018 professional profile contained in a Council of the District of Columbia bill, however, listed a Doctor of Health Administration from A.T Still University of Health Sciences, a master’s degree from Oxford University and a Master of Arts/MBA from Columbia University.

The same profile mentioned a post-MBA certificate in financial management from Cornell University rather than Harvard University, prompting efforts to establish his educational history from the institutions named in the two profiles.

Von Batten’s professional profile states that he served with the National Guard Bureau of the US Army between January 2004 and March 2006.

He subsequently said he worked at the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of the US Global AIDS Coordinator and Health Diplomacy, the United States Department of Defence and, from 2016, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

A life shaped by September 11

In an X post in November 2025, Von Batten said he was working as an investment banker on the 39th floor of the World Trade Centre when the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred.

“In 2001, Wall Street was my home. I was an immigrant, a young investment banker, and my office was on the 39th floor of the World Trade Centre, Tower 1. September 11, 2001, changed my life,” Batten wrote.

“Before I knew it, like thousands across the country, I rushed to the recruiting station and volunteered for military service. We had one mission: seek, find, and destroy the enemies of the United States.”

“I was inspired by four things: watching innocent Americans die, watching the towers collapse, my desire for revenge, and the words of President George W. Bush as he stood on a pile of rubble holding a bullhorn.”

His LinkedIn profile further states that he served “under General Roosevelt Barfield in support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff per Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom”.

Lobbying across Africa

Von Batten’s lobbying activities have extended beyond Nigeria, with his firm securing assignments connected to Somalia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Von Batten with members of the National Council for Democracy in Rwanda

In 2022, the United Somalia Alliance reportedly engaged him to lobby against US recognition of Somaliland independence, while representatives of the Sool, Sanaag and Cayn regions subsequently contracted his firm to present their concerns to the Biden administration and Congress.

In 2023, Von Batten signed another lobbying agreement with Somalia’s federal ministry of fisheries and blue economy to advocate issues considered beneficial to the country.

Burundi later retained his firm in February 2026 under a $60,000 agreement covering government affairs, strategic advice and public relations in the United States.

His work for the Democratic Republic of Congo has also drawn attention because the country engaged him to lobby internationally for sanctions against Rwanda over allegations concerning insecurity in eastern DRC.

In February 2025, Rwanda’s embassy in the United States dismissed claims attributed to Von Batten that President Paul Kagame had been “uninvited” from the US National Prayer Breakfast because of Rwanda’s alleged involvement in the DRC crisis.

The embassy described the claims as “a flat-out lie” and “just petty nonsense”.

With his expanding role in African lobbying and the scrutiny surrounding his personal history, Von Batten’s activities have placed both his professional credentials and background under increasing public attention.

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