U.S. Court Orders FBI, DEA To Release Files On Tinubu’s Alleged Drug Probe

A United States (US) federal court has ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to release records linked to the criminal investigation of Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over alleged drug trafficking activities in the 1990s.

Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued the ruling on April 8, directing both agencies to search for and process all non-exempt documents responsive to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests submitted by American legal researcher and transparency advocate, Aaron Greenspan.

Greenspan, who runs the legal transparency platform PlainSite, had filed 12 FOIA requests between 2022 and 2023, seeking details on a drug trafficking ring that operated in Chicago in the early 1990s. His requests named President Tinubu along with three other individuals: Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele.

The FBI and DEA had previously refused to confirm or deny the existence of the requested records—a response known as a Glomar response. However, the court ruled that such responses were unjustified, emphasizing that the public’s right to know outweighs any privacy concerns in this case.

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“The FBI and DEA have both officially confirmed investigations of Tinubu relating to the drug trafficking ring,” the ruling stated. “Any privacy interests implicated by the FOIA requests… are overcome by the public interest in release of such information.”

Judge Howell further noted that the agencies had failed to demonstrate that President Tinubu still retains a legitimate privacy interest in keeping the existence of the investigations secret.

While the court ruled against the FBI and DEA, it upheld the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) refusal to release records, after Greenspan conceded that the agency had acknowledged the existence of relevant documents.

The FBI and DEA are now required to begin searching for and releasing applicable records. Both agencies, along with Greenspan, have been directed to file a joint status update on any outstanding issues by May 2, 2025.

This decision is likely to reignite conversations around Tinubu’s past in the United States, a topic that has previously surfaced in Nigerian political discourse but has remained largely unresolved