President Bola Tinubu has asked a United States court to block the further release of records relating to past investigations allegedly involving him, arguing that disclosure would violate his privacy rights under American law.
Tinubu joined the case as an intervenor and, in a filing before the US District Court for the District of Columbia, urged the court to reject a request by PlainSite founder Aaron Greenspan for additional documents from the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration.
Greenspan had filed Freedom of Information Act requests seeking records connected to a Chicago heroin investigation in the early 1990s, including FBI files and interview records involving Tinubu.
Although a US judge previously ordered the FBI and DEA to search for and process non-exempt records, thousands of documents have since been released with some information redacted. Greenspan is challenging the extent of those redactions.
Tinubu’s lawyers argued that FOIA is designed to promote transparency about government operations, not expose private information about individuals. They cited privacy protections under FOIA and the US Privacy Act, insisting that the agencies acted lawfully in withholding sensitive material.
The legal team also rejected arguments that an earlier court ruling removing the agencies’ “Glomar” response—where authorities refuse to confirm or deny records exist—automatically removed Tinubu’s privacy rights over the contents of the files.
They further argued that Greenspan had failed to demonstrate any genuine public interest or evidence of government misconduct warranting further disclosure.
The case could nevertheless attract significant attention in Nigeria, where questions surrounding Tinubu’s past have remained politically sensitive. The President has consistently denied wrongdoing linked to the allegations.
