FBI complies with deadline, hands Tinubu’s alleged drug trafficking case files to US Judge for ‘for her eyes only’

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has submitted records relating to a 1993 investigation involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to a federal judge in Washington, D.C., for confidential review, court filings have shown.

The records were hand-delivered to Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, August 28, 2026, and were filed under seal for the judge’s private review.

The development followed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who is seeking access to records held by U.S. federal agencies concerning Tinubu.

Court filings indicated that the FBI submitted the documents as “under seal, ex parte, in camera declarations” in compliance with a minute order issued by Judge Howell on August 20.

An in camera review means the judge examines the material privately rather than making it immediately available to the parties or the public.

FBI complies with court deadline

The FBI’s submission followed a series of delays in the FOIA case, with the bureau previously giving reasons for withholding or delaying the release of the requested records.

Judge Howell had set August 28 as a deadline for the FBI to explain its position and provide the disputed material for the court’s review.

The latest filing indicates that the bureau complied by submitting the records directly to the judge rather than releasing them to Greenspan at this stage.

Greenspan had filed the FOIA request seeking records concerning Tinubu, including documents relating to the period around 1992 and 1993.

The transparency campaigner had also worked with Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin in pursuing the records.

FBI had cited privacy concerns

The submission came shortly after the FBI argued that releasing the records could infringe on Tinubu’s privacy and the privacy of other individuals whose information may be contained in the investigative files.

The bureau had maintained that FOIA is primarily intended to promote transparency in the operations of government agencies and does not automatically require the disclosure of sensitive personal information about private individuals.

Tinubu has also opposed the release of the records through his lawyers, arguing that disclosure could violate his privacy rights.

His legal team contended that the fact that some information connected to a previous forfeiture proceeding had entered the public domain did not eliminate Tinubu’s privacy interest in the undisclosed contents of investigative files.

Records linked to 1990s US case

The documents sought by Greenspan are connected to U.S. government records concerning Tinubu’s activities in the United States in the 1990s, including a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding involving approximately $460,000.

Tinubu has denied wrongdoing.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois had previously released documents relating to Tinubu’s encounter with American authorities over allegations concerning narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

The latest development, however, does not mean the records have been released to Greenspan or the public.

For now, Judge Howell is expected to examine the materials privately and determine whether the FBI is legally entitled to withhold all or portions of the records under applicable FOIA exemptions.

The court’s eventual decision could determine whether some or all of the disputed documents become publicly accessible.

Credit: Peoples Gazette, batten-von on X.

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