US court orders FBI, DEA to release records on Tinubu’s drug probe

A U.S. federal court has ordered top American law enforcement agencies to release confidential information relating to a purported drug-related investigation involving Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu in the 1990s.

Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on Tuesday that the FBI and DEA’s refusal to confirm or deny the existence of such records.

The records, known as a “Glomar response,” were “neither logical nor plausible.”

The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by American activist Aaron Greenspan under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Greenspan had requested documents from the FBI, DEA, IRS, CIA, Department of State, and the Executive Office of the U.S.

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Attorneys relating to investigations allegedly involving Tinubu, Abiodun Agbele, and others linked to a Chicago heroin ring in the early 1990s.

Despite filing 12 FOIA requests between 2022 and 2023, all agencies declined to release information. Greenspan sued in June 2023 to challenge the refusals.

He argued that Tinubu and Agbele had been officially acknowledged as subjects of investigations and that the public interest outweighed any privacy concerns. “The plaintiffs’ argument [is] that (1) DEA has officially confirmed investigations of Agbele… (2) the FBI and DEA have both officially confirmed investigations of Tinubu… [and] (3) any privacy interests… are overcome by public interest,” the ruling noted.

Judge Howell agreed in part, stating the FBI and DEA had previously acknowledged Tinubu’s involvement. “The claim that the Glomar responses were necessary to protect this information… is at this point neither logical nor plausible,” she ruled.

The court, however, upheld the CIA’s right to withhold information, noting that Greenspan had not proven the agency officially acknowledged any records.

The case draws attention back to Tinubu’s controversial past in the U.S. In 1993, he reportedly forfeited $460,000 to the U.S. government after authorities linked the funds to narcotics trafficking, though he was not charged with a crime.

Documents submitted in court include a verified complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in July 1993, seeking the forfeiture of Tinubu’s funds. An affidavit by IRS Special Agent Kevin Moss described how Agbele was arrested after selling heroin to an undercover agent. He later cooperated with authorities, linking other individuals, including Tinubu and Mueez Akande, to the drug network.

“Agbele identified Akande as his uncle and said he provided him an apartment in Hammond, Indiana,” the affidavit read, citing DEA sources. It also said Tinubu’s bank accounts were flagged during the money-laundering probe into the heroin ring.

“There is probable cause to believe that funds in certain bank accounts controlled by Bola Tinubu… represent proceeds of drug trafficking,” Moss stated.

Tinubu’s camp had earlier moved to intervene in the U.S. case, citing privacy rights over tax records and other documents. The Nigerian Supreme Court had also ruled in 2023 that the forfeiture issue didn’t disqualify Tinubu from contesting the presidency.

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Following Howell’s ruling, U.S. agencies (excluding the CIA) are expected to file a status report by May 2 on the remaining issues in the case.

This legal push renews global scrutiny on President Tinubu’s past, especially amid previous challenges to his eligibility by opposition figures Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, who had flagged the 1993 forfeiture during Nigeria’s 2023 election dispute.