The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has ordered U.S. law enforcement agencies to release confidential information regarding President Bola Tinubu from a federal investigation in the 1990s.
Judge Beryl Howell issued the order on Tuesday, stating that keeping the information secret was “neither logical nor plausible.”
The case began in June 2023 when Aaron Greenspan, an American, filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) against several U.S. agencies, including the FBI, CIA, IRS, DEA, and the Department of State. He accused these agencies of violating FOIA by failing to release documents related to investigations into Tinubu and Abiodun Agbele.
Greenspan had filed 12 FOIA requests between 2022 and 2023, seeking information about a joint investigation into a Chicago heroin ring that operated in the early 1990s. He requested criminal investigative records regarding four individuals, including Bola Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele, who were allegedly linked to the drug ring.
Each agency issued a “Glomar response,” neither confirming nor denying the existence of the requested records. Greenspan contested these responses with the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy, which upheld the agencies’ refusal to confirm or deny the records.
In June 2023, Greenspan filed a lawsuit against the FBI, DEA, IRS, the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, and the Department of State, challenging their responses to the FOIA requests. The CIA was added as a defendant in October 2023.
In an emergency motion filed on October 20, 2023, Greenspan sought a hearing to compel the agencies to release the documents, citing the upcoming Nigerian Supreme Court case regarding Tinubu’s 2023 presidential election. The motion was denied three days later.
On October 23, 2023, President Tinubu intervened, citing privacy concerns over his tax records and documents protected by the Privacy Act or exceptions to FOIA.
In 1993, Tinubu forfeited $460,000 to the U.S. government after authorities linked it to narcotics trafficking. The forfeiture was discussed during the Presidential Election Petition Court when Tinubu’s eligibility was challenged, but the court dismissed the suits and upheld his election.
On Tuesday, Judge Howell ruled partially in favor of Greenspan. She stated that the FBI and DEA’s “Glomar responses” were “improper” and must be lifted, noting that the investigation of Tinubu by both agencies was acknowledged and the need to withhold the information was “neither logical nor plausible.”
The judge explained that FOIA requests could challenge agencies’ “Glomar responses” by showing that the agency had “officially acknowledged” exempt information or that confirming or denying the existence of records would not result in harm.
Greenspan argued that both the DEA and FBI had confirmed investigations of Tinubu in relation to the drug trafficking ring, and the public interest outweighed any privacy concerns. However, the CIA’s “Glomar response” was upheld, as Greenspan failed to prove the agency had acknowledged the existence or nonexistence of the records.
Five of Greenspan’s requests remain unresolved, with a joint filing due by May 2, 2025, to report on the status of outstanding issues.
Greenspan also submitted a 1993 complaint filed in Illinois, seeking the forfeiture of Tinubu’s funds, which were allegedly tied to the drug trafficking investigation.
According to IRS Special Agent Kevin Moss’s affidavit, Agbele, a key member of the trafficking ring, had provided information about Tinubu’s financial transactions. Moss’s affidavit indicated probable cause that Tinubu’s funds were involved in money laundering linked to the heroin distribution ring in Chicago.
Premium Times