The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has approached a federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking permission to privately explain why it is withholding portions of investigative records linked to allegations of drug trafficking involving President Bola Tinubu.
In a court filing dated August 20, the FBI asked the US District Court for the District of Columbia to allow it to submit a confidential declaration to the judge explaining grounds that, according to the agency, cannot be disclosed publicly.
The proposed submission, known as an ex parte, in camera declaration, would be presented privately to the judge and kept outside the public record.
The FBI argued that making some of the withheld information public could expose law-enforcement methods and procedures, while also potentially putting the lives or physical safety of certain individuals at risk.
The application was made public on X by Von Batten-Montague-York, a Washington-based lobbying firm recently engaged by African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
The records in question stem from two Freedom of Information Act requests submitted to the FBI.
The first request, identified as 1588244-000, sought the “entire FBI file” on Tinubu, who was described in the request as Nigeria’s president-elect in February 2023.
The second request, numbered 1593615-000, asked for FBI Form 302 interview records concerning Tinubu in connection with FBI Case No. 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU covering 1992 and 1993.
According to the bureau, it relied on several exemptions under the US Freedom of Information Act, including exemptions 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E) and 7(F), to withhold parts of the records.
The agency said some of the information could reveal investigative techniques and procedures, while other material could reasonably be expected to threaten the life or physical safety of an individual.
It further argued that the full justification for applying exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) could not safely be disclosed in a public filing.
The FBI is therefore asking the court to permit it to submit an additional declaration under seal, through which it would provide the judge with further details supporting its position.
The agency said it would file the confidential document by August 28 if the court grants its request.
The case was brought by Aaron Greenspan, founder of PlainSite, who has been seeking government records connected to investigations into a Chicago heroin trafficking operation dating back to the early 1990s.
Greenspan submitted 12 FOIA requests to six US federal agencies between 2022 and 2023. The requests sought documents relating to criminal investigations involving four individuals, including Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega and Abiodun Agbele.
Five of the agencies initially issued what is known as a Glomar response, meaning they refused to confirm or deny whether the requested records existed.
Greenspan challenged the agencies’ positions before the US Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy, but the office upheld their responses.
He subsequently instituted a lawsuit on June 12, 2023, challenging the refusal to confirm or deny the existence of the records.
The FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Executive Office for United States Attorneys and Department of State were initially listed as defendants. The Central Intelligence Agency was later added to the case.
In April 2025, US District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the Glomar responses issued by the FBI and DEA were improper and ordered that they be lifted.
Howell found that the agencies had not demonstrated the existence of a legally recognisable privacy interest that justified keeping secret the fact that Tinubu had been the subject of a criminal investigation.
She also held that the agencies had failed to provide adequate evidence to support their continued refusal to confirm or deny the existence of the records.
The latest filing follows a request by the US Department of Justice for an additional 10 days to comply with a court order concerning the release of records relating to the allegations involving Tinubu.
Although Howell granted only a four-day extension, moving the deadline to August 21, Tinubu’s legal team subsequently joined the DOJ’s request for the longer extension.
The judge reportedly rejected that request.
The FBI’s latest application is now seeking to give the judge privately what it describes as further justification for retaining some of the records, particularly information it says could expose sensitive investigative procedures or create risks to individuals if released publicly.
(DAILY TRUST)
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