US Court grants FBI permission to submit Tinubu-linked records for private review

A United States federal court has taken another step in the long-running Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case seeking the release of records relating to alleged drug-trafficking investigations linked to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

A Washington-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., announced the development in a post on X on Friday, stating that it had been informed that Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia granted the FBI permission to submit certain documents to the court privately for in-camera review.

An in-camera review allows a judge to examine sensitive documents privately rather than placing them on the public court record.

According to the lobbying firm, the judge gave the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and President Tinubu until August 28, 2026, to file their opposition to the release of the records.

The firm highlighted the judge’s reported instruction that the deadline was August 28 “and no later”, interpreting the wording as an indication that the court intended to bring the matter forward without further delays.

The lobbying firm said the FBI would now be required to justify why the records should remain undisclosed, including through its private submission of sensitive material for the judge’s consideration.

It further claimed that the FBI had acknowledged possessing sensitive information connected to allegations of drug trafficking involving Tinubu.

The firm also alleged that some of the records could contain information concerning criminal informants and argued that the latest development raised questions about earlier descriptions of the matter as being primarily related to civil forfeiture.

“We have now been informed that US Court’s Judge Howell this morning granted the FBI permission to provide the court with the documents in private,” the firm said in its post.

However, the reported development had not appeared on the court docket at the time of publication, meaning the information was based solely on the lobbying firm’s account.

The development comes after the FBI previously asked the US court for permission to submit an ex parte, in-camera declaration explaining why it had withheld some records sought under FOIA.

The case stems from requests for records relating to an old US investigation and has continued through several legal proceedings involving federal agencies.

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