President Bola Tinubu has asked a United States court to block the release of records linked to past drug-trafficking allegations involving him.
The request was contained in court documents filed on Friday, August 28, 2026, in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit involving US government agencies.
The records are being sought by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who sued the US Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Greenspan is seeking documents relating to investigations involving Tinubu, including the FBI’s complete file on the Nigerian president and FBI Form 302 interview records from 1992 and 1993.
The case also involves an alleged record connected to a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding in the United States involving approximately $460,000 linked to Tinubu.
Tinubu has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with the allegations.
In court documents shared by Tinubu’s lawyers, Christopher W. Carmichael, Victor P. Henderson and Oluwole O. Afolabi, the president argued that releasing the records could infringe on his privacy rights.
His legal team maintained that information submitted during the earlier forfeiture proceedings did not disclose details of any possible criminal investigation or its outcome.
The lawyers argued that Greenspan’s attempt to obtain the records was largely based on the fact that the information had not previously been made public.
They further contended that the disclosure of some information in previous proceedings did not eliminate Tinubu’s privacy interest in other undisclosed portions of the government files.
According to the legal team, an individual may retain privacy rights over information contained in government investigative files even where parts of the records have already entered the public domain.
They also argued that being associated with a previous investigation should not be interpreted as consent to the publication of the contents of investigative files.
Tinubu’s lawyers additionally challenged Greenspan’s arguments concerning the FBI’s search for records, the DEA’s records index and other documents that were withheld or redacted.
The legal team urged the court to reject Greenspan’s request, arguing that the FOIA lawsuit should not be used to obtain government records containing Tinubu’s personal information that they believe are protected from disclosure under US law.
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