President Bola Tinubu has asked a United States federal court to prevent the release of records held by American law enforcement agencies relating to historical investigations involving him.
Tinubu’s legal team filed a 16-page submission before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, opposing efforts by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan to obtain additional records from the US Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The president’s lawyers, Christopher Carmichael, Victor Henderson and Oluwole Afolabi, argued that the records should remain redacted or withheld.
Greenspan filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against several US government agencies in 2023, seeking records connected to historical investigations involving Tinubu.
Among the documents sought are the FBI’s entire file relating to Tinubu and FBI Form 302 interview records covering the period between 1992 and 1993.
The case also involves records connected to a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding in the United States involving approximately $460,000 linked to Tinubu.
Tinubu has consistently denied any wrongdoing. In their latest submission, his lawyers argued that releasing the requested documents could violate his privacy rights.
They maintained that the disclosure of certain information during the earlier civil forfeiture proceedings did not amount to the public release of details or the outcome of any alleged criminal investigation.
The legal team urged the court to reject Greenspan’s motion for summary judgment and allow the FBI and DEA to retain their existing redactions and withholdings.
The matter is part of a long-running legal battle over Greenspan’s efforts to obtain US government records concerning the Nigerian President.
Greenspan’s requests date back to 2022 and 2023 and include documents relating to historical investigations dating from the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In April 2025, US District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the FBI and DEA could no longer rely on so-called “Glomar” responses, under which government agencies neither confirm nor deny the existence of requested records.
The judge directed the agencies to process non-exempt records responsive to Greenspan’s requests.
However, the ruling did not establish that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence or amount to a criminal conviction against him.
The decision was centred on the obligations of the agencies under the Freedom of Information Act and whether the requested records could lawfully be withheld.
Earlier this month, the FBI sought the court’s permission to submit sensitive information privately and under seal to justify its decision to withhold portions of the requested records.
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The agency argued that some of the information was protected under FOIA exemptions relating to personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement techniques and information whose disclosure could potentially endanger an individual’s life or physical safety.
Tinubu had also previously joined a request by the US Justice Department for additional time to respond to court orders concerning the disputed records.
The latest filing places the Nigerian President directly at the centre of the continuing dispute over whether further documents relating to the historical investigations should be made public.
The court will now determine whether the FBI and DEA can maintain their redactions and withholdings or whether additional records sought by Greenspan must be released.
