Following threats of Tinubu’s drug records going public, President Bola Tinubu has asked a US court to reject a request seeking the release of documents linked to investigations reportedly concerning him, arguing that US privacy laws protect the materials.
Tinubu made the request in a statement filed with the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday after joining the case as an intervenor.
He urged the court to reject Aaron Greenspan’s motion for summary judgment and allow the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to maintain existing redactions and withholdings in records they have already released.
PlainSite founder Aaron Greenspan filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking documents related to Tinubu, including the “entire FBI file” on the Nigerian president and FBI interview transcripts from 1992 to 1993.
Greenspan filed 12 FOIA requests with six US federal agencies while seeking investigative records connected to a Chicago heroin ring that operated in the early 1990s. His requests named four individuals, including Tinubu.
In April 2025, US District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the FBI and DEA had acted unlawfully by previously refusing to confirm or deny whether they held records related to Tinubu.
Tinubu’s Drug Records: FOIA NOT FOR PRIVATE INFORMATION
In his most recent reply, Tinubu contended that FOIA is meant to reveal information about government operations rather than reveal private information found in official records.
“Plaintiff’s motion should be denied because FOIA is not a tool for obtaining information the government collected about private individuals,” the filing states.
According to the president’s attorneys, Greenspan’s requests focus more on Tinubu himself than on records that would reveal how the US government or its agencies performed their duties.
They cited a 1989 US Supreme Court ruling, which held that records concerning private individuals generally provide little insight into government operations.
Tinubu’s legal team also argued that the withheld material falls under the US Privacy Act and FOIA Exemption 7(C). The exemption protects law-enforcement records when releasing them could cause an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
The court ruled that both the FBI and the DEA “properly redacted or withheld exempt information” from the public records disclosed to Greenspan, finding no violation of freedom of information requirements.
‘GLOMAR ruling did not remove privacy rights’
Tinubu’s attorneys also rejected Greenspan’s argument that Judge Howell’s 2025 ruling on the FBI and DEA’s “Glomar” responses meant the president no longer had a privacy interest in the contents of the investigative files.
A Glomar response allows a government agency to refuse to confirm or deny whether it holds records that match a FOIA request.
According to the filing, Howell distinguished between Tinubu’s privacy interest in the contents of any investigative files and his interest in keeping the fact of any investigation confidential.
Tinubu’s lawyers argued that Howell’s earlier ruling dealt with the latter issue and did not determine whether authorities should eventually release the contents of the investigative records.
Tinubu seeks to keep redactions
Tinubu’s legal team also rejected Greenspan’s challenges to the FBI’s search process, the DEA’s Vaughn index, the agencies’ use of FOIA exemptions, and their handling of segregable information.
They argued that the court should consider those issues alongside what they described as Greenspan’s primary objective: obtaining records that contain Tinubu’s name.
“If this Court finds that Plaintiff cannot use FOIA to mine information in government files about a private individual, he should not be able to access documents with Intervenor’s ‘name on them,’” the filing states.
For this reason, Tinubu is requesting that the court reject Greenspan’s request for summary judgement and maintain the FBI and DEA’s current withholdings and redactions.
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