The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has asked a federal court in Washington, DC, for permission to privately explain why it is withholding some records linked to investigations involving President Bola Tinubu.
The application, dated August 20, seeks approval to submit an ex parte in camera declaration—a written explanation presented privately to the judge rather than placed on the public court record. The FBI said it cannot fully disclose its reasons for withholding some information in an open filing.
The agency said the records were requested under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and relate to investigative files involving Tinubu from the early 1990s. The FBI cited several FOIA exemptions, including provisions covering personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement techniques and information that could potentially threaten an individual’s safety.
The FBI specifically referred to a request for its entire file on Tinubu and another seeking FBI interview records from case number 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU covering 1992 and 1993. It argued that releasing some of the material could expose investigative methods or “reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.”
The agency wants to provide the additional confidential declaration to Judge Beryl Howell by August 28 if the court grants its request. The filing forms part of a long-running FOIA lawsuit brought by Aaron Greenspan, founder of PlainSite, who has been seeking records from US agencies concerning investigations into a Chicago heroin network that operated in the early 1990s.
Greenspan filed 12 FOIA requests in 2022 and 2023 involving four individuals, including Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande and Abiodun Agbele. Several US agencies initially issued so-called Glomar responses, meaning they declined to confirm or deny whether the requested records existed.
That position later came under judicial scrutiny. In April 2025, Howell ruled that the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration had improperly relied on Glomar responses and ordered the agencies to lift them. She found that the agencies had not sufficiently established that Tinubu had a privacy interest that justified keeping the fact of any investigation secret.
The latest filing comes as the US Department of Justice continues to respond to court orders concerning the requested records. The DOJ had sought an additional 10 days, but Howell granted only four days, setting August 21 as the deadline. Tinubu’s legal team also sought a longer extension, but the judge reportedly rejected the request.
The FBI’s latest application does not itself establish that Tinubu committed drug trafficking or any other crime. It concerns the government’s legal basis for withholding information from FOIA requests. The underlying allegations and the existence, contents and significance of any records remain matters being contested and examined through the US court process.
