Nigeria: Prevent Release of My Fbi, Dea Records, Tinubu Tells Us Court

What the report says

President Bola Tinubu has asked a US federal court to stop additional disclosure of records tied to past American law-enforcement investigations in which he was named, arguing that further release would invade his privacy. The filing was made in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, where Tinubu joined the case as an intervenor.

According to Daily Trust, Tinubu is opposing a summary judgment motion by Aaron Greenspan, founder of PlainSite, who is seeking FBI and DEA records through Freedom of Information Act requests. The requests, filed in 2022 and 2023, covered several US agencies and focused on documents connected to a 1990s Chicago drug-trafficking case. US agencies had already released thousands of pages, but with redactions, after earlier court rulings.

The dispute follows an April 2025 decision by Judge Beryl Howell, who found that the FBI and DEA had not shown enough privacy grounds to avoid confirming that Tinubu had been investigated. She ordered the agencies to search for and process non-exempt records, while allowing the CIA to keep a different response in place.

Tinubu’s lawyers argue that FOIA is intended to shed light on government operations, not to disclose personal material about private individuals, and say the public interest claim does not justify broader release. Tinubu has denied wrongdoing in relation to the underlying allegations.