FBI filing revived scrutiny of Tinubu’s 1990s US drug investigation.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that decades-old United States law-enforcement investigation involving Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has returned to public attention following a new FBI court filing and a campaign by a Washington lobbying firm engaged by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. has been pressing American authorities to release additional records connected to a long-running Freedom of Information Act lawsuit concerning documents held by US law-enforcement agencies.
The firm said it had distributed more than 60 pages of Department of Justice records and related court documents to officials in President Donald Trump’s administration, members of Congress and senior congressional staff.
The controversy intensified after a sworn FBI declaration, reportedly filed on August 28, 2026, stated that records sought in the FOIA case were compiled during an investigation of several individuals suspected of drug-trafficking offences.
Excerpts of the declaration published by the lobbying firm identified Tinubu as one of the subjects of the investigation.
The filing forms part of the ongoing case of Aaron Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys et al., pending before Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
The FOIA lawsuit, filed in June 2023, seeks access to records held by the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and other American agencies concerning Tinubu and other individuals.
The latest filing confirms the existence of investigative material, but it does not establish that Tinubu committed a criminal offence or was convicted of drug trafficking.
What the Historical Records Concern
The records relate to a US investigation dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s and a subsequent civil forfeiture proceeding filed in Chicago in 1993.
US authorities alleged that funds held in certain bank accounts represented proceeds connected to narcotics trafficking or money laundering.
The civil case resulted in the forfeiture of $460,000 associated with accounts linked to Tinubu, while other funds were released under the settlement.
However, the proceeding was civil rather than a criminal prosecution. Tinubu was not criminally charged or convicted in the United States in connection with the case.
The issue later featured in legal challenges to Tinubu’s eligibility to contest Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election. The Presidential Election Petition Court dismissed the challenges and affirmed his election.
FBI Seeks to Protect Sensitive Information
The FBI recently asked the US court for permission to submit some explanations privately in support of its decision to withhold or redact parts of the requested records.
According to The ICIR, the agency cited several FOIA exemptions covering personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement techniques and information whose disclosure could endanger an individual’s safety.
One of Greenspan’s requests reportedly sought Tinubu’s “entire FBI file,” while another requested records of FBI interviews conducted between 1992 and 1993.
The FBI argued that publicly explaining why some information should remain protected could expose the same details it was seeking to safeguard.
The agency therefore asked the court to review its justifications privately and under seal.
In April 2025, Judge Howell ordered the FBI and DEA to search for and process non-exempt records responsive to Greenspan’s requests after finding that the agencies had not adequately justified their earlier refusal to confirm or deny the existence of relevant documents.
The order concerned the agencies’ compliance with FOIA and did not amount to a judicial finding that Tinubu committed a drug-related offence.
Atiku-Linked Lobbyist Mounts Pressure
Von Batten-Montague-York was engaged by Atiku in March 2026 under a 12-month agreement reportedly worth $1.2 million.
Public filings under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act confirm the firm’s registration and its work for the former vice president.
The lobbying firm has framed the release of the records as a transparency issue and urged US agencies to disclose all material that is not legally protected.
It has also used social media statements and meetings in Washington to draw the attention of American officials, lawmakers and advocacy groups to the historical case.
The campaign has returned the issue to Nigeria’s political debate as preparations intensify for the 2027 general election.
Presidency Rejects Lobbying Campaign
The Nigerian Presidency has dismissed the campaign as politically motivated, accusing Atiku’s representatives of attempting to use historical legal records to undermine Tinubu ahead of the election.
Presidential aides have also argued that statements issued by the lobbying firm should not be treated as the official position of the US government.
Tinubu’s legal team has opposed the unrestricted release of some records, arguing that protected personal and law-enforcement information should remain redacted under American privacy laws.
The President has consistently denied criminal wrongdoing, and there is no established US criminal conviction against him arising from the historical investigation.
The renewed controversy therefore centres on two distinct questions: what additional information the unreleased records contain and whether that material establishes any criminal wrongdoing.
At present, available court records show that Tinubu was connected to a US law-enforcement investigation and that funds associated with him were affected by a civil forfeiture settlement.
Those facts do not, on their own, establish that he was convicted of drug trafficking or committed a criminal offence.
With the FOIA litigation still pending, further court decisions could determine how much additional information the FBI and DEA must disclose and what portions may remain protected under US law.
