PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has invoked privacy protections under the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to oppose the release of records held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) concerning him.
The development is contained in a statement issued on Thursday, September 3, by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, as the case proceeds before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
The case, Civil Action No. 23-1816, arose from FOIA requests made in 2022 by Aaron Greenspan, a US transparency activist, to several US government agencies for records relating to Tinubu.
According to the Presidency, some of the agencies initially withheld records or declined to confirm or deny whether they held responsive documents, prompting Greenspan to institute the case in 2023.
The court subsequently allowed Tinubu to intervene in the proceedings.
The FBI and DEA have since released 399 pages of records, although portions of the documents were redacted under exemptions contained in US law.
Greenspan challenged the redactions and is seeking the release of the withheld portions.
The statement noted that the FBI and DEA, through the US Department of Justice, have opposed the request, citing exemptions covering grand jury materials, attorney-client communications, law-enforcement records, personal privacy, confidential sources and investigative techniques.
It added that Tinubu also relied on FOIA Exemption 7(C), which protects personal information contained in law-enforcement records where disclosure could amount to an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Meanwhile, the latest development follows a series of disputes over the records since the case was filed.
In April 2025, US District Judge Beryl Howell rejected the agencies’ broad reliance on Glomar response, under which an agency may refuse to confirm or deny the existence of records in certain circumstances.
Howell ordered the FBI and DEA to search for and process non-exempt records responsive to Greenspan’s FOIA requests.
The records sought by Greenspan relate to US investigations involving Tinubu, including a 1990s civil forfeiture case connected to allegations surrounding heroin trafficking.
Tinubu has denied wrongdoing and has not been convicted of drug trafficking in the United States.
The case subsequently became the subject of further disputes over the pace and scope of the records’ release.
Earlier in August, Tinubu and the US Justice Department sought additional time to respond to a court directive concerning the records. Howell rejected the full extension request and set deadlines for the parties to respond.
The development was followed by a statement from Washington-based lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, which was hired by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
The firm said the court had given the FBI, Justice Department, DEA and Tinubu until August 28 to oppose the release of the records.
It also said Howell had allowed the FBI to submit sensitive documents to the court privately for review before a decision on their release.
The Presidency’s latest statement, however, stressed that the FBI and DEA had already produced 399 pages of records and that the remaining dispute concerns whether their redactions comply with US law.
It said the CIA, Executive Office for United States Attorneys, Department of State, Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service had obtained summary judgment after invoking the Glomar response and were subsequently removed from the case.
It added that the plaintiff has until September 11, 2026, to file opposition and reply to processes submitted by the defendants and Tinubu, while the FBI, DEA and Tinubu have until September 18 to respond.
The Presidency said the FOIA litigation is a civil records-disclosure dispute and that the release or withholding of records does not, by itself, establish criminal liability.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M