The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has submitted records concerning Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 1993 drug-trafficking and money-laundering case to a federal judge in Washington, D.C.
The documents were reportedly delivered under seal to Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, making them available only to the court while it considers whether they should be released publicly.
The development followed a lengthy legal dispute over a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by American transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan, who has been seeking access to the FBI’s records relating to Tinubu.
According to court filings, the FBI submitted the materials on Friday, August 28, in compliance with an earlier directive issued by Judge Howell.
The filing stated that the records were “hand delivered to the Court on August 28, 2026” in line with the judge’s August 20 order.
Greenspan had initially submitted his FOIA request in 2023 and worked with Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin in pursuing the documents.
The matter subsequently became embroiled in a dispute over the pace at which the FBI was processing the request, with the agency seeking additional time on several occasions.
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Judge Howell reportedly gave the bureau multiple opportunities to explain why the records had not been released but eventually ordered it to submit the documents to the court by August 28.
The FBI had previously argued that releasing the records could violate Tinubu’s privacy rights. The agency also maintained that the FOIA was designed primarily to promote transparency regarding government activities and operations, rather than provide unrestricted access to information about private individuals.
The records are connected to allegations surrounding Tinubu’s activities in the United States during the early 1990s and have remained the subject of legal and public interest for several years.
With the documents now in the judge’s custody, the next stage of the case will focus on whether some or all of the records can be made available to the public.
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