The Presidency has clarified that the ongoing case involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a civil dispute over the disclosure of government records and not a criminal case against the President.
In a statement addressing recent reports on the matter, the Presidency said the case was filed under the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which allows members of the public to request records held by government agencies.
It stressed that President Tinubu had neither been charged with nor found guilty of any criminal offence in connection with the proceedings.
The case dates back to 2022, when Aaron Greenspan submitted FOIA requests to several US government agencies seeking records relating to Tinubu. Following the agencies’ refusal to disclose some records or confirm their existence, Greenspan filed Civil Action No. 23-1816 before the US District Court for the District of Columbia in 2023.
The court later allowed Tinubu to participate in the proceedings as an intervenor.
According to the Presidency, several US agencies invoked the “Glomar defence”, a legal position that permits government agencies, in certain circumstances, to refuse to confirm or deny whether specific records or investigations exist.
The court subsequently granted summary judgment in favour of the CIA, the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA), the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service, removing them from the proceedings.
The remaining aspects of the case concern records held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The Presidency said the FBI and DEA, acting through the US Department of Justice, had released 399 pages of records, although portions were redacted under exemptions contained in US law.
Greenspan challenged the redactions and sought access to the withheld portions of the documents.
The US government agencies, however, maintained that some of the materials could not be disclosed because they involved protected grand jury proceedings, privileged attorney-client communications, law-enforcement information and personal privacy protections.
Other redactions, the Presidency said, were made to protect confidential sources and law-enforcement techniques.
President Tinubu has also asserted his right to privacy under FOIA Exemption 7(C), based on advice from his legal team.
The Presidency said the plaintiff has until September 11, 2026, to file an opposition and reply to the processes submitted by the defendants and the President’s legal team.
It further urged the public to view the proceedings within their proper legal context, rather than interpreting the FOIA dispute as a criminal proceeding or a finding of wrongdoing against the President.
The Presidency also recalled that, in a February 4, 2003 letter to then Inspector-General of Police Tafa Balogun, the US Consulate in Lagos said an FBI records check had found no criminal arrest records, outstanding wants or warrants for Tinubu, who was then the governor of Lagos State.
