Subscribe: Gist E-Paper
The Presidency has dismissed reports suggesting that President Bola Tinubu is facing a criminal case in the United States over alleged drug trafficking, insisting that the ongoing court proceedings relate only to the disclosure of government records under the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
In a statement issued late Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency said there was no criminal case against Tinubu and that no US court had found him guilty of any criminal offence.
According to the statement, the matter before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a civil records-disclosure dispute arising from FOIA requests filed by Aaron Greenspan in 2022.
The Presidency said Greenspan, who it alleged has worked with Nigerian opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar and David Hundeyin, sought records relating to Tinubu from several US government agencies.
After some agencies declined to confirm or deny the existence of certain records, Greenspan instituted Civil Action No. 23-1816 in 2023, prompting the court to allow Tinubu to participate in the proceedings as an intervenor.
The statement explained that several US agencies invoked the "Glomar" defence, a legal provision that allows agencies to neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations in order to protect law enforcement methods, personnel and confidential sources.
It said the court subsequently granted summary judgment in favour of the CIA, the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA), the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), removing them from the case.
According to the Presidency, only issues relating to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) remain before the court.
It added that the FBI and DEA have already released 399 pages of records with portions redacted in line with exemptions under US law.
The statement noted that the plaintiff is challenging those redactions, while the agencies maintain that the withheld information is protected because it relates to grand jury proceedings, attorney-client communications, law enforcement records, personal privacy and confidential investigative sources.
The Presidency also said Tinubu, on the advice of his lawyers, had asserted his rights under FOIA exemptions protecting personal privacy.
It recalled that the American Consulate in Lagos had, in a February 4, 2003 letter to the then Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun, stated that an FBI records check found no criminal arrest records, warrants or criminal history against Tinubu.
The Presidency stressed that the release or withholding of records under FOIA does not establish criminal liability, adding that the court is only expected to determine whether the FBI and DEA lawfully redacted portions of the requested documents.
It further stated that the plaintiff has until September 11, 2026, to respond to the agencies' filings, while the FBI, DEA and Tinubu have until September 18 to file their replies.
The Presidency urged the media and the public to distinguish between a civil records-disclosure dispute and a criminal prosecution, insisting that the outcome of the case would be determined solely by the US court based on the law and evidence before it, not political commentary.
