In a significant development, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia has directed top U.S. law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), to release confidential information pertaining to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This order comes in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by American citizen Aaron Greenspan, who sought access to records related to purported federal investigations into President Tinubu dating back to the 1990s. The ruling, delivered by Judge Beryl Howell, asserts that withholding the information from public disclosure is "neither logical nor plausible."

Greenspan's legal pursuit began in June 2023, targeting the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Department of State, FBI, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), DEA, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). His FOIA requests aimed to uncover documents related to investigations into President Tinubu and Abiodun Agbele, alleging violations of the FOIA due to the agencies' failure to release the information within the statutory timeframe.

Between 2022 and 2023, Greenspan submitted twelve FOIA requests to six distinct U.S. government entities, seeking details about a joint investigation involving the FBI, IRS, DEA, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern District of Indiana and Northern District of Illinois. These requests centered on charging decisions related to the activities of a Chicago heroin ring that purportedly operated in the early 1990s. Specifically, Greenspan sought criminal investigative records concerning Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele, all allegedly associated with the drug ring.

Initially, all five U.S. agencies responded with "Glomar responses," declining to confirm or deny the existence of the requested records. Greenspan challenged these responses at the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy (OIP), but the OIP upheld the agencies' refusal. Subsequently, Greenspan filed a lawsuit on June 12, 2023, naming the FBI, DEA, IRS, EOUSA, and Department of State as defendants, challenging each agency’s response to the FOIA requests. The CIA was later added as a defendant.

In October 2023, Greenspan filed an emergency motion seeking an immediate hearing to compel the U.S. agencies to produce the requested records, citing the Nigerian Supreme Court’s impending arguments in a litigation contesting Tinubu’s 2023 election. However, the emergency motion was denied for failing to meet the requirements for emergency injunctive relief. President Tinubu then moved to intervene in the case, citing privacy interests in his confidential tax records and documents from federal law enforcement agencies.

The backdrop to this legal battle includes a 1993 incident where Tinubu allegedly forfeited $460,000 to the American government after authorities linked the funds to narcotics trafficking. This issue was raised during the Presidential Election Petition Court proceedings in Nigeria, where opponents challenged Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the presidency. The election court, however, dismissed the suits and affirmed Tinubu’s election.

Judge Howell's recent ruling partially favored Greenspan, asserting that a FOIA requester can challenge an agency’s Glomar response by demonstrating that confirming or denying the existence of records would not result in a cognizable harm under a FOIA exemption or by showing that the agency has officially acknowledged otherwise exempt information through prior disclosure. The judge noted that Greenspan argued that the DEA and FBI had officially confirmed investigations of Tinubu and Agbele relating to the drug trafficking ring, and that any privacy interests were overcome by the public interest in the release of such information.

The CIA, however, had the judgement entitled in its favor. The judge ruled that Greenspan has failed to show that the “CIA has ever officially acknowledged the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to his FOIA request. Therefore, the CIA’s Glomar response must be sustained.”

The court has ordered the remaining parties, excluding the CIA, to file a joint report by May 2, detailing the status of any outstanding issues in the case.

In response to the U.S. court order, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Babatunde Ogala stated that the investigative report in question has already been in the public domain for a long time. Ogala, familiar with the U.S. case, noted that Greenspan's application dates back to 2003, and the FBI, CIA, and DEA were all involved in supplying details of any investigations conducted on the President. He emphasized that a matter in Chicago, where the President was found not liable for any offense, has long been concluded, with the forfeiture of $460,000 being against the funds, not the President as an individual.

Ogala argued that the FBI investigation report has been released since 2003 and was even used in the 2023 election petitions. He questioned whether President Tinubu would have been allowed to enter the U.S. subsequently if he had been indicted, highlighting the U.S.’s track record of pursuing leaders of other countries, like Panama. He dismissed the issue as sensationalism, attributing it to political motivations.

The presidency has also reacted to the U.S. court ruling, stating that there is nothing new to be revealed and that the reports being linked to President Tinubu never indicted him. Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga stated that the reports have been in the public space for over 30 years and that the lawyers are examining the ruling.

Meanwhile, President Tinubu met with a representative from President Donald Trump’s administration in Paris to discuss developing a strategic economic and security partnership between Nigeria, Africa, and the U.S. The presidency has also disclaimed the increasing number of billboards promoting the 2027 campaign for President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, stating that the President has not endorsed or authorized any such campaign.