JUST IN: Presidency Responds to US Court Order on Tinubu Drug Case Records

The Nigerian presidency has responded to a recent U.S. court ruling that ordered federal agencies to release records relating to President Bola Tinubu’s alleged involvement in a decades-old drug trafficking case. In a statement issued Sunday, presidential media aide Bayo Onanuga said the documents in question do not contain any new information and do not indict Tinubu.

On April 8, a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. directed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to search for and process all non-exempt records regarding their investigations into the matter, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The ruling was made by Judge Beryl Howell in response to a lawsuit filed by Aaron Greenspan, founder of the transparency platform PlainSite.

Greenspan had submitted 12 FOIA requests across six U.S. federal agencies seeking records related to a Chicago heroin ring from the early 1990s. Among the individuals named in the request was Bola Tinubu, now president of Nigeria.

Onanuga emphasized that the reports in question—specifically those by FBI Agent Kevin Moss and the DEA—have been publicly available for over three decades and contain no indictment of Tinubu. He added that legal experts are currently reviewing the court’s decision.

“There is nothing new to be revealed,” Onanuga stated. “The report by Agent Moss of the FBI and the DEA report have been in the public space for more than 30 years. The reports did not indict the Nigerian leader. The lawyers are examining the ruling.”