US Court Orders FBI, DEA to Release Drug Probe Records Tied to President Tinubu
In a significant legal development, a United States District Court in Washington, D.C., has mandated the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to release records related to a past criminal investigation involving Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The ruling, issued by Judge Beryl Howell on April 8, follows a legal challenge by American transparency advocate and researcher Aaron Greenspan, who filed multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking information on an alleged drug trafficking network from the early 1990s, with ties to Tinubu and several associates.
Greenspan, who runs the public legal platform PlainSite, had submitted 12 FOIA applications between 2022 and 2023. He specifically requested any investigative records related to Tinubu, as well as individuals named Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele.
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In response, the FBI and DEA initially issued what is known as a “Glomar response”—a legal stance in which an agency refuses to confirm or deny the existence of such records. However, the court found these responses inappropriate, ruling that both agencies must now conduct thorough searches and release any non-exempt records related to the FOIA requests.
“The FBI and DEA have both officially confirmed investigations of Tinubu relating to the drug trafficking ring,” the judgment stated, adding that any potential privacy concerns were outweighed by the public interest in the information.
The court held that neither agency had sufficiently demonstrated why Tinubu’s past should be shielded from public disclosure, asserting they had failed to justify the continued use of Glomar responses.
While the court upheld a similar Glomar response by the CIA—due to the plaintiff conceding that the agency had acknowledged the existence of relevant records—the FBI and DEA must now comply fully with the FOIA ruling. All parties are expected to report back to the court on the case’s progress by May 2, 2025.
This ruling potentially opens the door to fresh scrutiny over past allegations involving Nigeria’s president and may reignite public interest in his controversial financial and legal history in the United States.
By PRNigeria
