A judge in Washington, D.C., has directed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to reveal certain records related to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.
The ruling, issued Tuesday by Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, came in response to a motion filed by American citizen Aaron Greenspan, who sought a review of a previous decision in the case.
Judge Howell criticised the agency’s efforts to withhold the documents, calling its reasoning for doing so “neither logical nor plausible.”
Greenspan accused the FBI of violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by failing to produce documents within the legally required timeframe.
He specifically requested materials connected to alleged federal investigations involving President Tinubu and another individual, Abiodun Agbele.
Tinubu has previously been linked to a 1993 case in which he reportedly forfeited $460,000 to the U.S. government. Authorities at the time alleged that the funds were tied to drug trafficking proceeds.
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During Nigeria’s 2023 presidential elections, opposition candidates Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party raised the forfeiture case as part of their legal challenge to Tinubu’s eligibility.
However, Nigeria’s Presidential Election Petition Court ultimately upheld Tinubu’s victory and dismissed the challenges.
In her ruling this week, Judge Howell found that both the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) failed to justify their refusal to comply with FOIA requests.
She granted part of Greenspan’s motion, ordering that relevant documents be made public.
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