US Court orders FBI, DEA to release Tinubu’s investigation records
….Nothing new in FBI’s Reports on Tinubu – Presidency
…Information being sought did not indict President Bola Tinubu – Onanuga
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has ordered the Federal Bureau of Intelligence, FBI, to make information about President Bola Tinubu public.
Judge Beryl Howell gave the order on Tuesday.
The development was sequel to a motion by Aaron Greenspan, an American who is seeking a reconsideration of an earlier ruling.
Howell said protecting the information from public disclosure is “neither logical nor plausible”.
Greenspan had accused the FBI of violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by failing to release within the statutory time “documents relating to purported federal investigations into” Tinubu and one Abiodun Agbele.
Tinubu was alleged to have forfeited $460,000 to the US government in 1993 after authorities linked the funds to proceeds of narcotics trafficking.
Recall that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and and Labour Party candidate Peter Obi had challenged Tinubu’s eligibility to contest Nigeria’s presidency at the Presidential Election Petition Court.
Then the issue of Tinubu’s forfeiture of the funds featured prominently, but the election court dismissed the suits and affirmed Tinubu’s election.
However, on Tuesday, Judge Howell ruled partly in favour of Greenspan.
The judge said that the FBI and DEA failed to show that they properly invoked the FOIA.
Nothing new in FBI’s Reports on Tinubu – Presidency
The Presidency has reacted to the directive to US law enforcement agencies to release confidential information generated on President Bola Tinubu.
Reacting, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, said the information being sought did not indict President Bola Tinubu.
He also hinted that there is nothing new, in the report by Agent Moss of the FBI and the DEA report, saying the report has been in the public space for more than 30 years.
According to Onanuga, “Journalists have sought the Presidency’s reaction to the ruling last Tuesday by a Washington DC judge ordering the US FBI and DEA to release reports connected with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“There is nothing new to be revealed. The report by Agent Moss of the FBI and the DEA report have been in the public space for more than 30 years. The reports did not indict the Nigerian leader. The lawyers are examining the ruling.”
