Prevent release of my FBI, DEA records, Tinubu tells US Court

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has submitted records related to President Bola Tinubu's 1993 drug trafficking and money laundering case to US District Court Judge Beryl Howell, according to the Peoples Gazette. The FBI delivered the sealed documents to the court on Friday, following a court order that directed the bureau to release the records after a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case filed by transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan in 2023.

The submission came after the FBI missed several deadlines in the FOIA case, prompting Judge Howell to give the bureau a final deadline of August 28, 2026, for compliance. The FBI argued that releasing the records could infringe on Tinubu's privacy rights, while also stating that the FOIA law does not necessarily require the disclosure of information concerning private individuals.

Tinubu himself opposed the release, warning that it could be used by political opponents to tarnish his reputation ahead of elections. The controversy revolves around allegations of Tinubu's involvement in narcotics trafficking and money laundering during the 1990s, a case in which US authorities seized hundreds of thousands of dollars linked to him.

In 2023, a US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois released documents detailing Tinubu's interactions with American authorities over the allegations.