The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has submitted records linked to President Bola Tinubu’s 1993 drug-trafficking and money-laundering case to a United States federal judge.
The records were reportedly hand-delivered to Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, August 28, 2026.
Court filings said the documents were submitted under seal and for the judge’s private review.
The move followed a court order directing the FBI to release Tinubu-related records sought by transparency campaigner Aaron Greenspan under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Greenspan filed the FOIA request in 2023, reportedly working with Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin.
The FBI had repeatedly missed deadlines and cited concerns over privacy and other legal issues surrounding the release of the records.
Judge Howell subsequently gave the bureau August 28 as a final deadline to comply with her order.
Rather than release the records directly to Greenspan, the FBI submitted them to the judge “ex parte” and “in camera,” meaning they were presented privately for the court’s review.
Earlier, the FBI argued that releasing the records could violate Tinubu’s privacy rights.
The bureau also maintained that FOIA was primarily intended to provide access to government records and did not necessarily require disclosure of private individuals’ information.
Tinubu has previously sought to prevent the release of records concerning his dealings with U.S. authorities.
His legal team argued that political opponents could use the documents to damage his reputation, particularly in connection with Nigeria’s presidential politics.
The controversy relates to allegations dating back to the early 1990s, when Tinubu was linked to a U.S. investigation involving narcotics trafficking and money laundering.
In 2023, a U.S. District Court in Illinois released documents concerning Tinubu’s dealings with American authorities and a financial forfeiture involving hundreds of thousands of dollars.
