FBI submits Bola Tinubu's drug-trafficking and money-laundering records to US judge

The FBI hand-delivered the documents to the court on Friday, requesting they remain under seal for the judge's review. This submission follows a court order in a Freedom of Information Act FOIA case filed by transparency campaigner Aaron Greenspan, who initiated the request in 2023 with Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin. Judge Howell had set August 28 as the final deadline for the FBI to comply, expressing concern over previous delays.

The records were submitted for an ex parte, in camera review, meaning they are not yet available to Greenspan. The FBI had previously argued that releasing the records could infringe upon Tinubu’s privacy rights and that FOIA primarily grants access to government records, not necessarily private individual information. Tinubu also opposed the release, citing potential damage to his reputation by political opponents.

The controversy involves Tinubu’s interactions with US authorities in the 1990s concerning allegations of narcotics trafficking and money laundering, including a 1993 case where funds linked to him were forfeited to the US government. Tinubu has largely avoided public comment on the matter, though the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois released documents detailing his encounter with American a