The camp of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has fired back at the Presidency over its latest statement on the alleged drug trafficking case linked to President Bola Tinubu.
The Presidency had stated that the ongoing Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, case involving records relating to President Tinubu before a United States federal court is a civil records-disclosure dispute and not a criminal case.
A statement on Friday by Atiku’s aide, Paul Ibe, described the Presidency’s explanation as a classic exercise in answering questions nobody asked while avoiding the questions Nigerians are actually asking, noting that nobody says the FOIA litigation is itself a criminal trial.
According to the statement, the issue is what the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, records contain. He wondered why the Presidency is so invested in preventing their full disclosure.
Atiku’s aide stressed that the Presidency admitted that the FBI and DEA have produced 399 pages of records, with portions redacted, noting that it also confirmed that President Tinubu has personally intervened in the case and, through his lawyers, invoked privacy protections to resist disclosure.
According to him, the Presidency has repeatedly cited a 2003 US consulate letter saying an FBI check found no arrest records at that time.
He stressed that a 2003 records check cannot logically become a blanket certificate covering every investigation, record or proceeding that may have existed before or after that date nor does a FOIA exemption mean that the underlying allegations are false.
“FOIA exemptions determine whether particular government information can legally be disclosed. They are not judicial findings that President Tinubu was never investigated or that every allegation concerning him is baseless.
“Indeed, the FBI has now submitted material to the judge for private review, while the dispute over further disclosure remains unresolved.
“And why is the Presidency spending so much energy attacking Aaron Greenspan, Atiku Abubakar and Karl Von Batten? The identity or political affiliation of the person seeking disclosure does not determine what is inside an FBI or DEA file.
“The documents—not the messenger—are the issue. Nigerians are entitled to transparency concerning matters that have generated serious questions about the person occupying the highest office in the land.
“The Presidency cannot simultaneously say, “there is nothing to see,” while asking that records concerning the matter remain protected from public scrutiny. Let us therefore stop the political distractions.
“And, above all, let Nigerians see whatever the court determines can lawfully be made public. This is not about Atiku. It is not about Von Batten. It is not about Aaron Greenspan. It is about transparency, accountability and the right of Nigerians to know,” he said.
