A United States federal judge has refused to order the release of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) dossiers on the presidential candidate of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu.
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Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. dismissed the case filed by a Nigerian legal practitioner, Johnmary C. Jideobi, seeking the court to order the CIA and FBI to release details of Mr Tinubu’s alleged past criminal forfeiture and money laundering activities.
In the suit filed in September 2021, Mr Jideobi requested the court to compel the CIA and FBI to release all records and documents in their possession relating to Mr Tinubu under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
However, delivering judgement on the case on Monday, Judge Bates ruled that the request was “impermissibly speculative”.
The judge upheld the objections of the CIA and FBI that Mr Jideobi had not provided any evidence that the agencies actually have such records on Mr Tinubu. He agreed with the agencies that being required to search through their records to confirm whether they have such dossiers would be “unduly burdensome”.
According to the court ruling, Mr Jideobi did not provide the necessary evidence to show that the CIA and FBI actually have substantive records on Mr Tinubu that have not been released.
The judge also dismissed claims that releasing any such records on Mr Tinubu would be in the U.S. public interest. He stated that the plaintiff failed to establish any public interest that would be served by the disclosure of any documents relating to the APC presidential candidate if they do indeed exist.
With the case now dismissed, the CIA and FBI cannot be compelled to release or even search for any records in their possession relating to Mr Tinubu’s past activities as requested by Mr Jideobi through the lawsuit. The dismissal puts an end to efforts to confirm if U.S. agencies have intelligence documents on Mr Tinubu that could impact Nigeria’s 2023 elections.
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