The Presidency has clarified that the ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation involving records relating to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the United States is a civil records-disclosure dispute and not a criminal case against the Nigerian leader.
In a statement issued on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency said the United States District Court for the District of Columbia had neither convicted Tinubu nor made any finding of criminal wrongdoing against him.
The Presidency explained that the case arose from FOIA requests submitted in 2022 by Aaron Greenspan to several US government agencies for records relating to Tinubu. After some agencies withheld records or declined to confirm or deny their existence, Greenspan commenced Civil Action No. 23-1816 before the US District Court in 2023.
According to the statement, the court subsequently allowed Tinubu to participate in the proceedings as an intervenor. The CIA, Executive Office for United States Attorneys, Department of State, Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service were later removed from the case after the court granted summary judgment in their favour based on the “Glomar defence,” which allows US agencies in certain circumstances to neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigative records.
The Presidency said the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) remained involved in aspects of the case and, in compliance with court orders, released 399 pages of records, although portions were redacted under exemptions provided by US law.
It said Greenspan challenged the redactions, while the FBI and DEA, through the US Department of Justice, maintained that the withheld portions were protected under various FOIA exemptions, including provisions covering grand jury materials, attorney-client privilege, law-enforcement information, personal privacy, confidential sources and investigative techniques.
The statement added that Tinubu, on the advice of his lawyers, had also invoked his rights under FOIA Exemption 7(C), which protects personal privacy in certain law-enforcement records.
The Presidency said the next stage of the litigation would involve further filings, with the plaintiff expected to file any opposition and reply by September 11, 2026, while the FBI, DEA and Tinubu have until September 18 to respond.
It stressed that the release or withholding of records under FOIA does not, by itself, establish criminal liability, insisting that the central issue before the court is whether the redactions made by the FBI and DEA are lawful.
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The Presidency also rejected recent commentary suggesting that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Karl Von Batten are central to the proceedings, stating that neither is a party to the case.
It urged the Nigerian media and the public to distinguish the ongoing court proceedings from what it described as partisan speculation, noting that the final determination rests with Judge Beryl A. Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia and will be based on the evidence, applicable law and arguments of the parties.
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