By Segun Ojumu
ABUJA — The Nigerian presidency has issued a statement seeking to clarify an ongoing legal dispute in the United States over public records concerning President Bola Tinubu, insisting the civil case carries no criminal liability or findings of wrongdoing against the head of state.
The statement comes in response to media commentary regarding a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit currently before the US District Court for the District of Columbia.According to the presidency, the case stems from a 2022 request filed by US activist Aaron Greenspan seeking records from several American government agencies regarding Mr. Tinubu. Following initial refusals by those agencies to release documents, Mr. Greenspan initiated civil litigation in 2023. President Tinubu was later permitted by the court to join the proceedings as an intervenor. A US federal judge subsequently granted summary judgment removing several agencies—including the CIA, the State Department, and the Treasury—from the lawsuit after they invoked standard legal protections.
However, two agencies—the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)—were ordered to review their files, ultimately releasing 399 pages of records with heavy redactions. The court is now considering whether those redactions are lawful under US federal exemptions designed to protect grand jury secrecy, law enforcement techniques, attorney-client privilege, and individual privacy rights.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, emphasized that the proceedings are strictly administrative and civil.”The matter is a civil records-disclosure dispute under the United States Freedom of Information Act. It is not a criminal case against President Bola Tinubu, nor has the court found him guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” Mr. Onanuga said.
The presidency also cited a 2003 letter from the US Consulate in Lagos to Nigerian police, which stated that an FBI background check at the time found no criminal arrest records or warrants for Mr. Tinubu. Addressing public commentary surrounding the case, the statement dismissed assertions by political opposition figures and commentators, urging the public to separate legal proceedings from political maneuvering. “The release or withholding of records under FOIA does not, by itself, establish criminal liability,” Mr. Onanuga added, noting that the court will decide the final outcome based on US law rather than partisan interests.
The presiding judge, Beryl A. Howell, has set a deadline of mid-September 2026 for final legal filings from all parties involved before delivering a ruling on the unredacted release of the remaining documents.
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