Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has asked a U.S. federal court to prevent the release of investigative records held by the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Justice concerning decades-old drug trafficking allegations against him, according to court filings.
The move comes in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who is seeking the FBI’s complete file on Tinubu, including interview records from 1992-1993 and documents tied to a 1993 civil forfeiture case involving roughly $460,000 allegedly connected to him.
Tinubu’s legal team filed a 16-page brief before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asking the court to uphold redactions and withholdings applied by the FBI and DEA. The filing, dated Aug. 28, was signed by lawyers Christopher W. Carmichael, Victor P. Henderson and Oluwole O. Afolabi.
Background
Greenspan has pursued the records since filing FOIA requests in 2022 and 2023. In April 2025, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the FBI and DEA could no longer issue so-called “Glomar” responses — neither confirming nor denying the records’ existence — and ordered the agencies to process any non-exempt material.
Tinubu’s position
Tinubu’s lawyers argue that disclosure would violate his privacy rights, contending that earlier limited disclosures about the matter do not eliminate his broader privacy interest in the full file. They also distinguish between past public references to the investigation and the release of the underlying investigative material itself.
The lawyers stressed that Howell’s ruling did not establish that Tinubu committed drug trafficking or any other crime, and did not amount to a criminal conviction or finding of liability — saying it addressed only the agencies’ obligations under FOIA and whether the records could lawfully be withheld under statutory exemptions.
The FBI has separately asked the court for permission to submit sensitive material under seal to justify some of its withholdings.
Tinubu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing related to the allegations, which date back more than three decades.
