US judge grants FBI request to review Tinubu files in private
US judge grants FBI request to review Tinubu files in private
A U.S. federal court yesterday granted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) its request to review in camera records of the investigation of alleged drug-trafficking linked to President Bola Tinubu.
Similarly, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia gave the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the US Justice Department and President Tinubu until August 28, 2026 to file their opposition to the release of the records.
The FBI had filed a motion seeking to submit ex parte in camera declarations on why it withheld information about its investigative records relating to the allegations.
An ex parte in camera declaration is a written statement submitted solely to a judge by a party in a legal case.
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The FBI in an August 20 application informed the court that it could not publicly explain all the reasons it is withholding certain records, hence the need for an ex parte in camera declaration.
It cited the need to protect law-enforcement methods and the safety of individuals in respect of the case now before it.
US law enforcement agency said if it acceded to the requests, it “would, among other things, disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations and/or could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.”
The FBI’s application reads in part: “One of the requests at issue is the request assigned Request Number 1588244-000, which sought ‘[t]he entire FBI file for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, DOB 3/29/1952, President-Elect of Nigeria as of February 2023.
“Plaintiff submitted a second FOIA request to the FBI seeking ‘FBI 302 interviews with Bola Tinubu from FBI Case No. 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU during the timeframe 1992-1993.’
“This was assigned Request Number 1593615-000. The FBI has invoked various Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Exemptions, including 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E) and 7(F) regarding these requests, and determined the information withheld from Plaintiff in this case, if disclosed, would, among other things, disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations and/or could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.
“The FBI has determined that it cannot provide on the public record the full basis for the application of Exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) to certain withholdings and that, therefore, an ex parte, under seal declaration is necessary.”
Between 2022 and 2023 American Aaron Greenspan had filed for the release of the investigation conducted by the FBI, DEA, IRS and other agencies relating to the alleged drug trafficking and a 1993 civil forfeiture in which $460,000 in funds connected to Tinubu were forfeited to the U.S. government.
Tinubu was not criminally charged and has consistently described the matter as a civil settlement.
