Tinubu’s US Record Dispute Is A Civil Matter — Presidency

The Presidency has clarified that the ongoing United States legal proceedings involving records relating to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are a civil dispute over access to government documents and not a criminal case against the Nigerian leader.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the clarification on Thursday amid renewed public attention to documents held by United States law enforcement agencies concerning Tinubu.

According to the Presidency, the matter before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia arose from Freedom of Information Act requests submitted in 2022 by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who sought records from several US government agencies relating to the Nigerian president.

Onanuga stressed that the litigation does not constitute a criminal trial against Tinubu and that no court has found the President guilty of criminal wrongdoing.

He explained that several US agencies initially involved in the case, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service, had been removed from the proceedings after obtaining summary judgment based on the “Glomar defence.”

The defence allows an agency, in certain circumstances, to refuse to confirm or deny whether responsive records exist.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration remain involved in the lawsuit. According to the Presidency, the agencies have produced 399 pages of records, although portions have been redacted under exemptions contained in US law.

The FBI has also submitted some materials to the court under seal, with the agency arguing that publicly disclosing the basis for certain redactions could expose information protected by law.

The Presidency said the central issue before the court is whether the FBI and DEA acted lawfully in withholding or redacting portions of the requested records.

It also maintained that the decision on whether additional records will be released rests with the US court and will be determined by applicable law rather than political arguments.

The clarification comes amid increased debate over historical US records relating to Tinubu and reports concerning investigations dating back to the early 1990s.

The Presidency urged Nigerians and media organisations to distinguish between the civil FOIA proceedings and claims suggesting that Tinubu is currently facing a criminal prosecution in the United States.