FBI Court Declaration Confirms Tinubu Was Subject Of Criminal Investigation In US Drug Case
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, has acknowledged that President Bola Tinubu was a subject criminal investigation for drug trafficking crimes in the early 1990s.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, has acknowledged that President Bola Tinubu was a subject criminal investigation for drug trafficking crimes in the early 1990s.
This revelation was contained in a sworn declaration submitted to the United States District C0ourt for the District of Columbia on August 28, 2026. Zçx
The document, obtained by Von Batten-Montague-York we, a Washington-based lobbying firm hired by former Nigerian Vice-President and African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2027 Nigerian presidential election, was posted on X alongside the firm’s statement that they are “carefully going through and redacting where we see fit” a huge volume of records.
The declaration signed by an FBI official serving as Acting Section Chief of the Record/Information Dissemination Section, RIDS, detailed the agency’s handling of Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, requests filed by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan.
The declaration read in part, “The responsive records herein were compiled in furtherance of the FBI’s investigation of multiple individuals for drug trafficking crimes.
"The court has already determined that an official acknowledgement had been made of an investigation of Bola Tinubu.”
Among the documents sought was the “entire FBI file for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, DOB 3/29/1952, President-Elect of Nigeria as of February 2023” and “FBI 302 interviews with Bola Tinubu from FBI Case No. 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU during the timeframe 1992-1993”.
According to the report, the court had previously ruled in April 2025 that the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA; could no longer rely on “Glomar” responses; that is, refusals to confirm or deny the existence of records, regarding the Tinubu investigation.
Judge Beryl Howell had also, determined that the agencies had failed to establish sufficient privacy grounds to conceal the fact that Tinubu had been the subject of a criminal investigation.
The FBI’s new declaration serves as the agency’s effort to explain why portions of the records remain withheld under FOIA Exemptions 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E), and 7(F), which protect personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement techniques, and information whose disclosure could endanger individuals.
In their post accompanying the document, Von Batten-Montague-York further noted, “Update: We received a huge amount of records, which we are carefully going through and redacting where we see fit. Posted below are portions of the @FBI’s own sworn declaration submitted to the court on August 28, 2026.
“The FBI states under oath that the court has already determined that a criminal investigation of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu (@officialABAT) was officially acknowledged.
“Let that sink in: This is a sworn declaration submitted by the FBI to a United States federal court stating that Nigerian President Bola #Tinubu was criminally investigated in connection with the trafficking of #heroin.
“We are posting this document to counter the claim made yesterday that President #Tinubu was never criminally investigated and is simply following the law to protect his privacy. That claim is false, as shown by the FBI’s sworn declaration below.”
Background
The legal fireworks emanated from FOIA requests filed between 2022 and 2023 by Greenspan, who sought records from six US federal agencies concerning a Chicago heroin trafficking ring that operated in the early 1990s.
Greenspan named four individuals, including Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Adegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele
Judge Howell ruled in April, 2025, that both the FBI and DEA’s Glomar responses were “improper and must be lifted,” ordering the agencies to process non-exempt records. The ruling, however, did not establish that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence or amount to a criminal conviction.
Tinubu’s Response
President Tinubu, had through his lead Counsel, Christopher W. Carmichael, Victor P. Henderson, and Oluwole O. Afolabi, asked the court to prevent further release of records, arguing that such disclosure would violate his privacy rights.
The Counsel noted lthat FOIA was intended to expose what the US government was doing, and not to provide a mechanism for extracting personal information about individuals in government archives, even as the matter
has increasingly assumed a political dimension in Nigeria, where developments have been amplified by interests associated with opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2027 presidential election
Earlier, the FBI had asked a federal court in Washington, D.C., for permission to submit confidential declarations under seal and privately explain the basis for withholding records relating to President Tinubu.
The FBI also, furtherdsaid it had relied on several FOIA exemptions, including Exemptions 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E) and 7(F), in withholding information from the records.
The agency said releasing the withheld information could reveal some law enforcement techniques and procedures and “could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.”
The FBI further submitted that my it could not disclose the full basis for its reliance on Exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) on the public record.
The declaration read in part, “The responsive records herein were compiled in furtherance of the FBI’s investigation of multiple individuals for drug trafficking crimes.
"The court has already determined that an official acknowledgement had been made of an investigation of Bola Tinubu.”
Among the documents sought was the “entire FBI file for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, DOB 3/29/1952, President-Elect of Nigeria as of February 2023” and “FBI 302 interviews with Bola Tinubu from FBI Case No. 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU during the timeframe 1992-1993”.
According to the report, the court had previously ruled in April 2025 that the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA; could no longer rely on “Glomar” responses; that is, refusals to confirm or deny the existence of records, regarding the Tinubu investigation.
Judge Beryl Howell had also, determined that the agencies had failed to establish sufficient privacy grounds to conceal the fact that Tinubu had been the subject of a criminal investigation.
The FBI’s new declaration serves as the agency’s effort to explain why portions of the records remain withheld under FOIA Exemptions 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E), and 7(F), which protect personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement techniques, and information whose disclosure could endanger individuals.
In their post accompanying the document, Von Batten-Montague-York further noted, “Update: We received a huge amount of records, which we are carefully going through and redacting where we see fit. Posted below are portions of the @FBI’s own sworn declaration submitted to the court on August 28, 2026.
“The FBI states under oath that the court has already determined that a criminal investigation of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu (@officialABAT) was officially acknowledged.
“Let that sink in: This is a sworn declaration submitted by the FBI to a United States federal court stating that Nigerian President Bola #Tinubu was criminally investigated in connection with the trafficking of #heroin.
“We are posting this document to counter the claim made yesterday that President #Tinubu was never criminally investigated and is simply following the law to protect his privacy. That claim is false, as shown by the FBI’s sworn declaration below.”
Background
The legal fireworks emanated from FOIA requests filed between 2022 and 2023 by Greenspan, who sought records from six US federal agencies concerning a Chicago heroin trafficking ring that operated in the early 1990s.
Greenspan named four individuals, including Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Adegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele
Judge Howell ruled in April, 2025, that both the FBI and DEA’s Glomar responses were “improper and must be lifted,” ordering the agencies to process non-exempt records. The ruling, however, did not establish that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence or amount to a criminal conviction.
Tinubu’s Response
President Tinubu, had through his lead Counsel, Christopher W. Carmichael, Victor P. Henderson, and Oluwole O. Afolabi, asked the court to prevent further release of records, arguing that such disclosure would violate his privacy rights.
The Counsel noted lthat FOIA was intended to expose what the US government was doing, and not to provide a mechanism for extracting personal information about individuals in government archives, even as the matter
has increasingly assumed a political dimension in Nigeria, where developments have been amplified by interests associated with opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2027 presidential election
Earlier, the FBI had asked a federal court in Washington, D.C., for permission to submit confidential declarations under seal and privately explain the basis for withholding records relating to President Tinubu.
The FBI also, furtherdsaid it had relied on several FOIA exemptions, including Exemptions 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E) and 7(F), in withholding information from the records.
The agency said releasing the withheld information could reveal some law enforcement techniques and procedures and “could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.”
The FBI further submitted that my it could not disclose the full basis for its reliance on Exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) on the public record.
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