The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has submitted records relating to President Bola Tinubu’s 1993 drug-trafficking and money-laundering case to Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, but the documents have not been released to the public.
According to court filings seen by *Peoples Gazette*, the FBI hand-delivered the records to the court on Friday, August 28, in response to an order issued by Judge Howell.
The submission was made under seal and on an *ex parte, in camera* basis, meaning the materials were provided privately for the judge’s review without the petitioner having access to them.
The filing stated that the records and related declarations were “hand delivered to the Court on August 28, 2026” in compliance with a minute order issued by Judge Howell on August 20.
The development followed a prolonged dispute over a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed in 2023 by transparency campaigner Aaron Greenspan. Greenspan worked with Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin in seeking records concerning Tinubu from the FBI.
The bureau had previously missed deadlines set by the court and sought additional time to address the request. Judge Howell subsequently set August 28 as a deadline for the FBI to comply.
Rather than release the records directly to Greenspan, the FBI submitted them privately to the judge, allowing the court to determine how the materials should be handled.
Earlier in the week, the FBI argued that releasing the records could infringe on Tinubu’s privacy rights. The bureau also maintained that FOIA primarily concerns access to records held by government agencies and does not automatically require the disclosure of information concerning private individuals.
Tinubu has also opposed the release of the FBI records. His lawyers argued that the request was politically motivated and could be used by his opponents to damage his reputation in connection with Nigerian politics. They asked the court to protect his privacy.
The records sought by Greenspan concern Tinubu’s dealings with U.S. authorities in the early 1990s. The controversy centres on allegations involving narcotics trafficking and money laundering and a subsequent forfeiture of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the U.S. government.
Tinubu has not publicly provided a detailed account of the circumstances surrounding the forfeiture or the broader allegations.
In 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois released records relating to Tinubu’s encounters with American authorities in the case.
The latest court filing does not, however, amount to a public release of the FBI records. For now, the documents remain with Judge Howell, who will determine what, if any, portion can be disclosed.
