The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has turned over documents concerning President Bola Tinubu’s dealings with American authorities in the 1990s to a federal judge in Washington.
The documents were submitted to Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, August 28, 2026, after the FBI was ordered to produce the records in a Freedom of Information Act case.
The bureau submitted the material under seal and asked the judge to examine it privately before determining whether any portion should be released to the person who requested the records.
The case was initiated in 2023 by transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan, who sought access to FBI records concerning Tinubu. Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin later joined efforts to obtain the documents.
Judge Howell had previously criticised the FBI over delays in complying with her directives and set August 28 as the deadline for the agency to submit the records.
The documents were subsequently presented for an “ex parte, in camera” review, meaning the judge will examine them privately without making them immediately available to Greenspan.
The latest submission therefore does not amount to a public release of the records. Their disclosure will depend on the judge’s eventual decision after reviewing the material.
The development follows an argument by the FBI earlier in the week that releasing the records could infringe on Tinubu’s privacy.
The agency also argued that FOIA was created to give the public access to government records but does not automatically make private information about individuals subject to disclosure.
Tinubu has also opposed Greenspan’s request, asking the court to protect his privacy. His legal position is that the documents could be used by political opponents to damage his reputation, particularly in the period leading up to elections.
The dispute centres on allegations concerning Tinubu’s activities in the United States during the 1990s, including claims relating to narcotics trafficking and money laundering.
A 1993 case involving Tinubu resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars connected to him being forfeited to the US government.
Tinubu has largely refrained from publicly engaging with the allegations surrounding the case.
However, documents concerning his interactions with US authorities were made public in 2023 after the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois released records relating to the matter.
