Tinubu’s US Records Dispute Is Civil, Not Criminal — Presidency

The Presidency has dismissed reports suggesting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is facing a criminal case in the United States, describing the ongoing legal proceedings as a civil dispute over the disclosure of government records.

The clarification was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who said the matter before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia was a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and had not resulted in any finding of criminal wrongdoing against Tinubu.

Onanuga explained that the case was instituted by American transparency activist, Aaron Greenspan, who filed requests in 2022 seeking records from several US government agencies before commencing a civil action in 2023.

According to him, Tinubu was subsequently permitted by the court to join the proceedings as an intervenor to protect his privacy interests.

The presidential aide said several US agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service, had been removed from the case after obtaining summary judgment based on what is known as the “Glomar defence.”

The defence allows government agencies to neither confirm nor deny the existence of certain records.

Onanuga said the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration remain parties to the suit and have so far produced 399 pages of records, although some portions were redacted under exemptions provided by US law.

He listed the grounds for the redactions as grand jury secrecy, attorney-client privilege, law-enforcement sensitivity, personal privacy, protection of confidential sources and investigative techniques.

“For clarity, 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 Ahmed Tinubu, nor has the court found him guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” Onanuga stated. The Presidency also said Tinubu had invoked his privacy rights under applicable US law in opposing the release of some of the records.

The controversy is linked to 12 Freedom of Information Act requests filed by Greenspan between 2022 and 2023, seeking records from six US federal agencies relating to a Chicago heroin-trafficking investigation from the early 1990s in which Tinubu’s name appeared alongside those of three other individuals.

Greenspan later challenged the agencies’ initial refusal to confirm or deny the existence of the records. In April 2025, Judge Beryl A. Howell ruled that the agencies’ blanket “Glomar” responses were neither logical nor plausible and ordered the FBI and DEA to process the records.

Tinubu was subsequently allowed to intervene in the case.

The Presidency said Greenspan has until September 11 to respond to the latest filings, while the FBI, DEA and Tinubu have until September 18 to file further responses.

Onanuga also criticised recent comments by Washington-based lobbyist Karl von Batten, noting that neither von Batten nor his client is a party to the lawsuit.

He urged Nigerian media organisations and the public to distinguish between verified court proceedings and what he described as partisan speculation. The case remains before Judge Howell, who will ultimately determine the matter based on the evidence, applicable US law and arguments presented by the parties.