President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has filed a legal challenge in a United States court seeking to prevent the release of records linked to allegations of drug trafficking, according to his lawyers.
The records are being sought by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against several U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Justice, FBI and DEA.
Greenspan is seeking documents relating to investigations involving Tinubu, including the FBI’s file on the Nigerian president and interview records covering the period between 1992 and 1993.
The case also concerns records connected to a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding in the United States involving about $460,000 allegedly linked to Tinubu. The President has denied any wrongdoing.
In court documents filed by his legal team, Tinubu argued that releasing the records could violate his privacy rights, maintaining that the requested investigative files contain information that has not previously been made public.
His lawyers further argued that the fact that some information may have appeared in earlier public proceedings does not remove an individual’s privacy interest in undisclosed details contained in government investigative files.
The legal challenge comes as the court considers Greenspan’s efforts to obtain the records under U.S. freedom-of-information laws.
