Presidency reacts as US court orders FBI to release Tinubu’s drug trafficking investigations records

The Presidency has responded to circulating reports stating that a United States federal court has ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to release records related to a past investigation involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently ruled that the FBI and DEA must “search for and process non-exempt records” connected to Tinubu.

This decision followed a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by American citizen Aaron Greenspan in June 2023.

The ruling noted that the U.S. agencies had failed to establish a sufficient privacy interest to justify withholding documents that might confirm Tinubu was the subject of an investigation in the 1990s, allegedly linked to a drug trafficking ring.

In 1993, Tinubu was said to have forfeited $460,000 to the U.S. government in connection with the case.

The judge ruled:

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

However, the Presidency has dismissed these claims, labeling them as “mischievous and politically mechanized nonsense,” aimed at distracting Nigerians ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Daniel Bwala, one of President Tinubu’s spokespersons, took to social media on Sunday, April 13, to issue a response.

He wrote on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account:

“Mischievous and politically mechanized nonsense under the guise of US Court orders FBI and DEA to act. They claim the order was given on Tuesday, but it never saw the light of the media until Sunday.

“There is nothing these opposition under the auspices of coalition for a wild goose chase cannot try to do to keep relevance.

“They went to meet @MBuhari and it was reported that he insisted the meeting be held in or on camera so that Nasir El-Rufai would not go and say Buhari is joining SDP and PDP.

“Hard as they try, they are still struggling to convince Nigerians that they have any plan at all, needless alternative plan.”

See below;

As of now, there has been no official release of documents from the FBI or DEA.