Atiku’s American Lobbyist Appoints Lai Mohammed As Managing Partner

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An American lobbyist, Brian D. Ballard, who reportedly helped facilitate Atiku Abubakar’s trip to the United States ahead of the 2019 presidential election, has appointed Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s immediate past information minister, as Managing Partner of his first office in Nigeria.

Atiku was said to have paid Ballard over $1 million (about N800 million) in a series of contracts to facilitate his trip to the U.S. and get the then-Donald Trump administration to identify with him ahead of the election.

“…It shall be the Firm’s duty to consult with the Client and advocate on its behalf those issues the Client deems necessary and appropriate before the US federal government,” read part of contract documents obtained from the US Department of Justice by The ICIR in 2019.

Ballard who was reported to be the most powerful lobbyist in the Trump administration has now appointed Lai Mohammed to head its first office in Africa.

His PR firm on Tuesday announced its expansion to Nigeria and the appointment of Mohammed as the administrator of its first office in Africa located in Abuja.

“Opening our first African office in Nigeria expands our firm’s international footprint to three continents and builds upon the important work we have done on behalf of African nations and companies in Africa and the U.S.,” Brian Ballard, the firm’s President and founder, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The ex-minister, according to Ballard, has an “outstanding reputation and exceptional experience” that “will be invaluable to our firm’s clients.”

Ballard added, “Mohammed has been the voice of national progressive politics and governance for the last twenty-five years. For the last eight years as Minister of Information and Culture between 2015 and 2023 Minister Mohammed has served as the spokesperson, reputation manager and information management strategist-in-chief of Africa’s most populous country and biggest economy.

“He is the first two term Minister of Information and Culture in the history of Nigeria. In 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari conferred Mohammed with one of the nation’s highest honors, Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) for service to the country. Since the advent of Nigeria’s fourth republic in 1999, Mohammed played key roles in the political life of his country as Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Executive Governor of Lagos, National Spokesperson for the Opposition for over a decade (2005- 2015) and as a candidate for the Governorship of Kwara State in the 2003 General Elections”, he said.

Responding, Mohammed expressed his excitement to join Ballard Partners.

Mohammed was quoted as saying “Ballard Partners has an impeccable reputation internationally and is well known for its success representing African countries and American firms in Africa. The opportunities in Nigeria are substantial and I look forward to helping the firm’s clients achieve their objectives.”

Ballard Partners’ appointment of Lai Mohammed may be seen as a strategic move to get him to help its firm penetrate the new administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.