Tinubu Asks US Court To Block Further Release Of FBI, DEA Records

President Bola Tinubu has asked a United States court to reject a motion seeking the further release of records relating to investigations allegedly involving him, arguing that the documents are protected by privacy provisions under US law.

Tinubu, who joined the case as an intervenor, made the argument in a response filed before the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

He urged the court to deny Aaron Greenspan’s motion for summary judgment and allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration to maintain redactions and withholdings in records already released.

Greenspan, founder of PlainSite, had filed Freedom of Information Act requests seeking records concerning Tinubu, including the FBI file on the Nigerian President and interview records from 1992 to 1993.

The case stems from 12 FOIA requests filed with six US federal agencies for investigative records concerning a Chicago heroin ring that operated in the early 1990s. Tinubu was among four individuals named in the requests.

In April 2025, US District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the FBI and DEA had improperly refused to confirm or deny whether they held records relating to Tinubu.

She ordered the agencies to search for and process non-exempt records responsive to Greenspan’s requests.

The FBI and DEA subsequently released thousands of documents, some with redactions, alongside explanations for certain withholdings. Greenspan later asked the court to order further disclosure, arguing that the records released did not adequately address his requests.

In his latest response, Tinubu argued that FOIA is intended to provide information about government activities rather than expose private information about individuals contained in government files.

His lawyers cited FOIA Exemption 7(C), which protects law-enforcement records where disclosure could constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, as well as the US Privacy Act.

The legal team also rejected Greenspan’s argument that Judge Howell’s 2025 ruling lifting the FBI and DEA’s “Glomar” responses eliminated Tinubu’s remaining privacy interests in the contents of the investigative files.

A Glomar response allows a government agency to refuse to confirm or deny whether responsive records exist.

Tinubu’s lawyers argued that the earlier ruling addressed the privacy interest in keeping secret the fact that he had been investigated, but did not determine whether the contents of investigative records should be released.

They also challenged the claim that there is a public interest in releasing the records because Tinubu is Nigeria’s President, arguing that interest in an individual’s background or activities does not constitute the type of public interest recognised under FOIA.

The President is therefore asking the court to deny Greenspan’s motion for summary judgment and allow the FBI and DEA to maintain their existing redactions and withholdings.

Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing linked to the allegations.