The Federal Bureau of Investigation has asked a United States court to allow it to submit a confidential declaration explaining why it is withholding records linked to allegations concerning President Bola Tinubu.
The request was filed on August 20 at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The FBI said it could not disclose the full basis for withholding some of the information in public court filings.
The agency is seeking permission to submit an ex parte, in camera declaration, meaning the document would be provided privately to the judge and kept from the public record.
According to The PUNCH, the FBI said it had relied on several exemptions under the US Freedom of Information Act in response to requests for records relating to Tinubu from 1992 to 1993.
The requests include one seeking Tinubu’s entire FBI file and another seeking FBI interview records connected to Case No. 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU during the 1992-1993 period.
The FBI cited FOIA exemptions including 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E) and 7(F). It said releasing the withheld information could reveal law-enforcement investigative techniques and potentially endanger an individual’s life or physical safety.
The agency told the court it could not publicly provide the full basis for its reliance on exemptions 7(E) and 7(F), prompting its request to submit the declaration under seal.
The FBI said that, if approved, it would file the confidential declaration by August 28.
The case was brought by American businessman Aaron Greenspan, founder of PlainSite. Between 2022 and 2023, Greenspan filed 12 FOIA requests with six US federal agencies seeking records relating to investigations into a Chicago heroin ring that operated in the early 1990s.
Greenspan sought records concerning four people he said were connected to the investigation, including Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Adegboyega Akande and Abiodun Agbele.
Several agencies initially issued what is known as a Glomar response, refusing to confirm or deny whether the requested records existed.
Greenspan subsequently sued, challenging the agencies’ responses.
In April 2025, Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration had improperly used the Glomar response and ordered the agencies to lift it. The judge found that the agencies had not established sufficient grounds to justify keeping secret the fact that Tinubu was a subject of a criminal investigation.
The latest development follows a separate request by the US Department of Justice for an additional 10 days to respond to a court order concerning the release of records linked to the allegations involving Tinubu.
Judge Howell granted only four additional days, setting August 21 as the deadline.
Tinubu’s legal team had subsequently joined the DOJ’s request for the longer extension, but the judge declined it.
The FBI’s latest application does not itself establish the substance of the withheld records or prove the allegations against Tinubu. It concerns the agency’s request to explain confidentially why portions of the records should remain undisclosed.
