Tinubu’s case: FBI declines Jeffrey Guterman’s request for release of file, gives reasons

The Federal Bureau of Intelligence, FBI, has rejected the application by an American, Jeffrey Guterman, a retired American mental health counselor, asking it to release a file on Nigeria’s President-elect Bola Tinubu.

Guterman, in a tweet disclosing the development on Friday, said his request was rejected because, according to the FBI, “the existence of files on third-party individuals would neither be confirmed nor denied by the FBI due to unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”

Recall that the retired mental health counselor had last month filed a request asking the FBI to release records about Tinubu’s $460,000 forfeiture on drug trafficking in the US.

“My request was rejected because, according to the FBI, the existence of files on third-party individuals will neither be confirmed nor denied by the FBI due to unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

“I found it noteworthy that in my online submission, I referred to Tinubu as “Bola Tinubu,” but in their letter, the FBI referred to him as TINUBU, BOLA AHMED. How would the FBI access the Ahmed part of his name? Again, I did not provide the Ahmed part of his name in my submission. Moreover, it is public knowledge that the FBI has a file on Tinubu for his $460,000 forfeiture to the US.