A US District Court in Washington, D.C., has ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to release records linked to a past drug trafficking investigation involving Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.
The ruling, delivered by Judge Beryl Howell on April 8, 2025, stems from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits filed by U.S. transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan.
Greenspan, founder of the public records platform PlainSite, submitted 12 FOIA requests between 2022 and 2023, seeking files related to a 1990s drug case in Chicago. That case reportedly involved Tinubu and three others Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele.
Initially, both the FBI and DEA issued what are known as “Glomar responses” refusing to confirm or deny the existence of any responsive records. But the court found those responses unjustified in this case and instructed both agencies to conduct proper searches and release any non-exempt documents.
Judge Howell emphasized that the public’s right to transparency outweighed any individual privacy concerns, noting that both agencies had already acknowledged Tinubu’s ties to the investigation.
“The FBI and DEA have officially confirmed investigations of Tinubu related to the drug trafficking ring,” the ruling stated. “They have failed to justify their refusal to confirm or deny the existence of records.”
However, the court upheld the CIA’s Glomar response, citing Greenspan’s own acknowledgment that the agency possessed relevant materials.
The FBI and DEA must now update the court on their efforts to locate and disclose the records by May 2, 2025.
