President Bola Tinubu has filed a request with a US court to prevent the disclosure of records maintained by the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the DEA regarding accusations of drug trafficking against him. This move comes in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit initiated by transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan, who is seeking access to various documents associated with investigations into Tinubu.
Greenspan’s FOIA request includes the entirety of the FBI’s file on Tinubu, alongside Form 302 interview records from the early 1990s, and documentation related to a civil forfeiture case from 1993 involving approximately $460,000 allegedly linked to him. Tinubu has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
In a 16-page legal filing, Tinubu’s attorney team, including Christopher W. Carmichael, Victor P. Henderson, and Oluwole O. Afolabi, argues that releasing these records could violate his privacy rights. They contend that the materials requested by Greenspan hold details that are not already public. The lawyers assert, “The purpose of Plaintiff’s motion is to obtain such information because it is not public.”
Additionally, they reference US Supreme Court precedents that acknowledge an individual’s right to privacy in government documents, even when some information has been made public. The filing emphasizes that previous disclosures related to the forfeiture case do not negate Tinubu’s privacy interests in the broader context of the investigations.
Tinubu’s legal team also challenges Greenspan’s motives, suggesting that the focus on documents with Tinubu’s name indicates an intent to glean information that otherwise should remain confidential under FOIA exemptions and privacy laws. They implore the court to deny Greenspan’s motion for summary judgment and to uphold the existing redactions implemented by the FBI and DEA.
