Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has gone to a US court to stop the release of records linked to an alleged drug trafficking investigation involving him, according to his lawyers.

According to Nigerian-based media channelstv.com, Tinubu's legal team is asking the court to uphold the FBI and DEA's decision to withhold or redact the records being sought under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

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The records are being requested by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who sued several US government agencies for documents relating to investigations involving Tinubu.

Among the documents sought are the FBI's full file on Tinubu and FBI Form 302 interview records covering the period between 1992 and 1993.

The case also relates to records from a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding in the US involving about $460,000 allegedly linked to Tinubu.

President Tinubu is said to have denied any wrongdoing.

In a 16-page court filing dated August 28, 2026, by his lawyers, Christopher W. Carmichael, Victor P. Henderson and Oluwole O. Afolabi, Tinubu argued that releasing the records would violate his privacy.

His lawyers said previous public disclosures relating to the forfeiture case did not remove Tinubu's right to privacy over information contained in government investigative files.

“Regardless of the prior disclosure in the forfeiture proceeding, Intervenor retains a privacy interest in potential disclosure of the investigative files sought by Plaintiff,” the lawyers argued.

They also said Greenspan's main aim was to obtain government documents simply because they contained Tinubu's name.

“Plaintiff’s filings, overwhelmingly, demonstrate that his singular focus is obtaining documents with Intervenor’s ‘name on them’,” the filing stated.

The legal team further argued that the FOIA request should not be used to gain access to information that is protected under US privacy laws.

“If this Court finds that Plaintiff cannot use FOIA to mine information in government files about a private individual, he should not be able to access documents with Intervenor’s ‘name on them’,” the lawyers said.

Tinubu's lawyers are therefore asking the court to reject Greenspan's request and allow the FBI and DEA to maintain the redactions or withholdings on the documents.

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“For all the foregoing reasons, Intervenor requests that the Court deny Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and allow the redactions or withholdings made by the FBI and DEA to stand,” the filing concluded.

MAG/BAI

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