The Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, has submitted records relating to President Bola Tinubu’s 1993 drug-trafficking and money-laundering case to Beryl Howell, a judge of the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Peoples Gazette reports that the FBI hand-delivered the records to the court on Friday and requested that they remain under seal for the judge’s review.
The submission followed a court order directing the FBI to release records relating to Tinubu after the bureau missed several deadlines in a Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, case filed by transparency campaigner Aaron Greenspan.
Greenspan filed the FOIA request in 2023 and worked with Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin to seek access to the records.
The FBI submitted the documents under seal on August 28, 2026, for an ex parte, in camera review, in compliance with a minute order issued by Judge Howell on August 20.
The judge had reportedly given the FBI August 28 as the final deadline to comply with the order after expressing concerns over the bureau’s repeated delays and explanations for not releasing the records.
The development means the records have been submitted directly to the judge without being immediately made available to Greenspan, the petitioner in the case.
Earlier this week, the FBI argued that releasing the records could violate Tinubu’s privacy rights.
The bureau also maintained that the FOIA law was primarily designed to provide access to government records and did not necessarily require the disclosure of information concerning private individuals.
Tinubu had also opposed the release of the records, arguing that his political opponents could use them to damage his reputation ahead of elections. He urged the court to protect his privacy rights.
The controversy centres on Tinubu’s dealings with US authorities in the 1990s over allegations of narcotics trafficking and money laundering.
Tinubu has largely declined to publicly address the controversy, which includes a 1993 case in which hundreds of thousands of dollars linked to him were forfeited to the US government.
In 2023, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois released documents detailing Tinubu’s encounter with American authorities over the allegations.
Alleged drug trafficking: FBI finally submits Tinubu’s records to US Judge Beryl Howell