A U.S. District Court in Columbia has instructed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to release records related to the investigation into Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s alleged involvement in drug trafficking.
In a ruling issued on April 8, 2025, Judge Beryl Howell ordered the FBI and DEA to search for and process any non-exempt records in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests submitted by American transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan. Greenspan, who is the founder of the legal platform PlainSite, had filed 12 FOIA requests between 2022 and 2023 seeking information about a Chicago drug trafficking operation from the early 1990s. His requests specifically targeted records related to Tinubu and other individuals including Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele.
Both the FBI and DEA had previously issued a “Glomar response,” which means they refused to confirm or deny whether such records existed. However, the court ruled that these responses were inappropriate in this case and directed both agencies to conduct a search for the requested records and release any that are not exempt.
In her ruling, Judge Howell explained that the public’s interest in obtaining this information outweighed any privacy concerns. She noted that both the FBI and DEA had acknowledged that Tinubu was part of their investigation, and they failed to provide sufficient justification to withhold the records.
Although the court ordered the FBI and DEA to release documents, it upheld the CIA’s Glomar response. The court ruled that the CIA had properly withheld its records, given national security concerns.
The FBI and DEA must now process and release the requested records and provide an update on the case by May 2, 2025. This ruling is seen as an important step in promoting transparency, particularly concerning public figures and government investigations.
