Tinubu seeks to block FBI, DEA document release in US court
President Bola Tinubu has filed a new motion in a U.S. court to prevent the release of documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
This legal move, initiated on September 4, 2025, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, is the latest development in an ongoing legal fight over access to decades-old files.
Represented by lead counsel Wole Afolabi, President Tinubu’s legal team argues that a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests are an “unwarranted invasion of privacy” because they are designed to expose private details rather than to shed light on government activities.
This new action comes after a significant ruling in April 2025, when a U.S. court ordered the FBI and DEA to release non-exempt records related to a historical investigation involving Tinubu.
READ ALSO: U.S court rejects request to release Tinubu’s confidential records by FBI, CIA
District Judge Beryl Howell had compelled the agencies to reverse their “Glomar responses”, the practice of neither confirming nor denying the existence of records, after finding that the agencies had already officially acknowledged an investigation in a 1993 civil forfeiture case. That decision had opened the door for the potential release of files connected to a Chicago-based drug trafficking ring from the early 1990s.
In the current motion, Tinubu’s attorneys argue that the FOIA requests, filed by American activist Aaron Greenspan, are not in line with the act’s original purpose. They contend that the requests are aimed at gathering information to fuel political disputes in Nigeria.
They also argue that Tinubu, as a public figure, still has a right to personal privacy and that the request for decades-old files lacks genuine public interest and only serves to attract traffic to Greenspan’s website, PlainSite.org.
In a counter-filing, Greenspan’s legal team has urged the court to reject the Nigerian president’s plea. The activist insists that Tinubu is using his presidential office to target political opponents and critics of his administration.
READ ALSO: Again, Tinubu files motions to stop FBI, DEA, other US agencies from releasing his records
The case has drawn significant attention due to its political implications in Nigeria, with both supporters and opponents of the president closely following the proceedings.
The Nigerian Presidency, through its Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has previously dismissed concerns about the documents, stating that the files in question are over 30 years old and contain no incriminating information.
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