Washington: The Federal Bureau of Investigation has submitted records related to President Bola Tinubu's 1993 drug-trafficking and money-laundering case to Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The records were hand-delivered on Friday and are under seal for the judge's review.
According to Ghana Web, the submission came after a court order directed the FBI to release the records following missed deadlines in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case filed by transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan. Greenspan, who filed the FOIA request in 2023, collaborated with Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin in seeking access to these records.
The FBI submitted the documents under seal on August 28, 2026, for an ex parte, in camera review, complying with a minute order issued by Judge Howell on August 20. The judge had set this final deadline after expressing concerns about the FBI's repeated delays.
The records have been submitted directly to the judge, without being made available to Greenspan, the petitioner. Earlier, the FBI argued that releasing the records could violate Tinubu's privacy rights, emphasizing that FOIA was designed for government records access and not necessarily for private individuals.
Tinubu had opposed the release, fearing that political opponents could use the records to damage his reputation ahead of elections. The controversy involves Tinubu's 1990s dealings with US authorities over allegations of narcotics trafficking and money laundering, including a 1993 case where he forfeited substantial funds to the US government.
In 2023, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois released documents detailing Tinubu's encounters with American authorities over these allegations.