The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have informed a United States Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday that they needed an additional 90 days to produce investigation reports related to an alleged drug case involving President Bola Tinubu in the 1990s.
It was anticipated that the agencies would release the records today as ordered.
A United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered both agencies to release the records following a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by an American, Aaron Greenspan.
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The two agencies had earlier issued what is known as a “Glomar response” — declining to confirm or deny the existence of such records. However, the judge ruled that continued secrecy was “neither logical nor plausible.”
The pending release follows a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed in June 2023 by U.S. transparency activist Aaron Greenspan. The lawsuit sought access to investigative records from several U.S. federal agencies regarding a 1990s drug trafficking and money laundering case in Chicago allegedly linked to Tinubu and others.
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According to court documents, Greenspan filed 12 separate FOIA requests between 2022 and 2023 directed at the FBI, DEA, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), U.S. Department of State, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in Indiana and Illinois, and the CIA. The requests focused on obtaining documents about four individuals: Bola Tinubu, Mueez Akande, Lee Andrew Edwards, and Abiodun Agbele, all allegedly associated with the drug ring.
While some records — including asset forfeiture documents — have been publicly cited since the late 1990s, the U.S. agencies resisted releasing further files. Judge Howell, however, ruled in favour of disclosure, asserting that the agencies’ justifications for secrecy no longer held water, especially since parts of the case had already been public for decades.
But, in a joint status report yesterday signed by Greenspan, U.S. Attorney Edward Martin, Jr. and assistant attorney M. Jared Littman, the parties stated that the report was not ready.
The joint status report proposes a schedule to govern further proceedings.
It reads: “Pursuant to the court’s order…, the FBI and DEA have initiated their searches for responsive, non-exempt, reasonably segregable portions of records requested by plaintiff and anticipate completing their searches in ninety days.
“Based on the years-long delay already caused by defendants, and the fact that many responsive documents have already been identified, plaintiff proposes that the FBI and DEA complete their searches and productions by next week, or at least that the FBI and DEA produce unredacted versions of already-identified documents by next week, and the remainder of production in 14 days.
“Defendants provide no rationale whatsoever as to why their search for documents should take 90 days.
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“Plaintiff intends to request his costs (the filing fee of $402.00 and $38.22 for Certified Mail postage, for a total of $440.22).
“Defendants propose that the parties submit a joint status report on or before July 31, 2025, to apprise the court as to the status of the case following the agencies’ search for responsive, non-exempt, reasonably segregable portions of records requested by plaintiff.
“Plaintiff proposes that they submit a joint status report on or before May 31, 2025.”
Presidency and APC dismiss concerns: ‘No Surprise, No Indictment’
Reacting to the development, the Presidency has maintained that the documents will not contain new revelations or threats to President Tinubu’s legitimacy.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, noted that the core documents in question — including an FBI report by Agent Kevin Moss — have been in the public domain since the 1990s and do not indict the President.
“There is nothing new to be revealed. The reports by Agent Moss of the FBI and the DEA have been in the public space for more than 30 years. The reports did not indict the Nigerian leader,” Onanuga stated.
Backing this stance, President Tinubu’s U.S.-based legal team, including Babatunde Ogala, SAN, and Attorney Afolabi, pointed out that Tinubu has travelled in and out of the U.S. freely since 1994 — a signal, they say, that he is not under any legal cloud.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) also weighed in. Senator Ajibola Basiru, National Secretary of the ruling party, stressed that the release of such documents, regardless of content, does not have constitutional consequences for Tinubu’s presidency.
“No one can be removed from office unless it’s in accordance with the Nigerian Constitution,” he said, describing the opposition’s reaction as “melodrama.”
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