The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has asked a federal court in Washington to allow it to submit a confidential declaration explaining why it is withholding records relating to allegations involving President Bola Tinubu.
In a 20 August filing before the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the FBI said it had relied on several exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to withhold the records.
The agency argued that releasing the information could reveal law-enforcement methods or potentially put individuals at risk.
The records were sought by American businessman Aaron Greenspan, who filed FOIA requests for FBI documents concerning Tinubu, as well as interviews conducted by the bureau in 1992 and 1993 in connection with a Chicago heroin investigation.
The FBI is seeking permission to file its explanation ex parte and under seal, meaning the declaration would be submitted privately for the judge to review rather than made available publicly.
If the court grants the request, the bureau said it intends to file the confidential declaration by 28 August.
Dispute over ‘Glomar’ response
The latest development follows a legal dispute over the FBI and other US agencies’ refusal to confirm or deny whether they held records relating to Tinubu.
In April 2025, US District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration’s so-called “Glomar” responses were improper.
A Glomar response allows an agency to refuse to confirm or deny the existence of requested records when doing so could itself reveal information protected from disclosure.
Judge Howell found that the agencies had not provided sufficient justification for maintaining their refusal in the case.
Greenspan had submitted several FOIA requests between 2022 and 2023 seeking records relating to investigations into a Chicago drug ring and people he alleged were connected to it, including Tinubu.
The FBI’s latest application does not, in itself, establish the existence of wrongdoing by Tinubu. It concerns the bureau’s justification for withholding information sought under US freedom-of-information laws.
The court’s decision on whether to permit the FBI to file its declaration under seal will determine the next stage of the dispute over access to the records.
