The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has granted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) permission to submit sensitive records linked to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the court privately.
This new development continues a long legal battle to uncover U.S. police records about Tinubu from the early 1990s.
Judge Beryl Howell is presiding over the case brought by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who has been seeking access to records held by the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and other US agencies.
According to an update from Washington-based lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., Judge Howell granted the FBI’s request on Friday to provide the documents to the court for an in-camera review.
An in-camera review means the judge will examine the material privately rather than allowing the parties or the public to see the sensitive portions.
The FBI had asked the court for permission to file an ex parte and in-camera declaration in support of its renewed motion for summary judgment.
The request was filed on August 20, 2026, before the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
The agency wants to explain privately why it believes some of the requested records should remain withheld under exemptions contained in the US Freedom of Information Act.
The FBI said it could not place the full explanation on the public record because doing so could reveal the very information it is seeking to protect.
In particular, the agency relied on FOIA Exemptions 7(E) and 7(F), which cover certain law-enforcement techniques and information whose disclosure could endanger the life or physical safety of an individual.
The FBI stated: “The FBI has determined that it cannot provide on the public record the full basis for the application of Exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) to certain withholdings and that, therefore, an ex parte, under seal declaration is necessary.”
The agency has therefore asked to present its complete argument directly to Judge Howell behind closed doors.
The FBI’s filing followed a dispute over records requested by Greenspan.
One of the requests seeks the “entire FBI file” concerning Tinubu.
Another seeks FBI Form 302 interview records connected to Tinubu and an FBI case covering the period between 1992 and 1993.
Form 302 records generally contain interview information prepared by FBI agents after speaking with witnesses or subjects during an investigation.
The records form part of a broader effort by Greenspan to obtain historical documents concerning Tinubu and other individuals who were allegedly connected to a US investigation into drug trafficking and money laundering.
NaijaOnPoint reports that the case dates back to 2023, when Greenspan filed the FOIA lawsuit against the Executive Office for US Attorneys and other federal agencies.
The legal dispute has continued for several years, with the US agencies previously resisting some of the requests.
The FBI, DEA and CIA had at different stages issued what are known as “Glomar” responses. Such responses allow an agency, in certain circumstances, to refuse to confirm or deny whether responsive records exist.
However, Judge Howell rejected the agencies’ position in an earlier ruling and ordered the FBI and DEA to search for and process records that could be released under FOIA.
The judge’s April 2025 ruling marked a major development in the case. She found that the agencies had not sufficiently justified their broad refusal to confirm or deny the existence of the requested records.
The FBI has also pointed to the potential danger of releasing some of the information.
According to the agency, disclosure of certain material could expose law-enforcement methods or information capable of identifying people whose safety could be affected.
The FBI has invoked several FOIA exemptions in attempting to keep portions of the records confidential.
These include exemptions dealing with personal privacy, confidential sources, investigative methods and information that could threaten an individual’s safety.
The agency has said it needs the court to examine the withheld material privately so that Judge Howell can determine whether the exemptions have been properly applied.
The FBI is expected to provide the confidential material by August 28 if the court’s permission covers the proposed filing.
This news comes only days after Judge Howell imposed a deadline on the US government and Tinubu in the wider FOIA dispute.
The Department of Justice had sought an additional 10 days to respond to the court’s order concerning the records.
Tinubu was reported to have joined the government’s request for additional time.
Judge Howell, however, declined to grant the full extension and instead set August 21 as the deadline for the government and the Nigerian president to respond.
The decision followed criticism over the length of time the case has remained before the court.
US authorities had seized funds in accounts linked to Tinubu during that period. A subsequent civil forfeiture case resulted in the forfeiture of $460,000 to the US government.
Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing.
Importantly, the historical forfeiture proceeding was civil in nature and did not amount to a criminal conviction against Tinubu for drug trafficking in the United States.
The latest court action also does not establish that the allegations contained in or connected to the requested records are true.
Rather, the immediate issue before Judge Howell is whether the FBI has provided sufficient legal grounds to keep parts of the records from public disclosure.
Von Batten-Montague-York, which has been pushing for the release of the records, said it was informed that Judge Howell had granted the FBI’s request for a private submission.
The firm also noted that the court’s permission had not yet appeared on the public docket at the time of its initial post, stressing that its update was based on information it had received.
“We have now been informed that US Court’s Judge Howell this morning granted the FBI permission to provide the court with the documents in private.”
The firm added that the FBI would now have to convince the court why the material should not be released publicly.
… BREAKING: US Court Grants FBI Request to Review Tinubu Files in Private Read More on … NaijaOnPoint.
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