The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has asked a federal court for permission to submit confidential declarations explaining why portions of investigative records sought in relation to longstanding allegations concerning President Bola Tinubu should remain withheld from public disclosure.
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In an application dated August 20, 2026, the FBI told the United States District Court for the District of Columbia that it could not place on the public record the full reasons for withholding certain information because disclosure could reveal sensitive law-enforcement techniques and procedures or reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of individuals.
The agency is therefore seeking permission to file what is known as an ex parte, in camera declaration a confidential submission made directly to the judge without being disclosed publicly or to the opposing party.
The litigation was commenced by Aaron Greenspan, founder of PlainSite, who has been pursuing records under the United States Freedom of Information Act relating to investigations in the early 1990s.
The FBI said it had invoked several FOIA exemptions in responding to requests for records concerning Tinubu, including Exemptions 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E) and 7(F).
According to the bureau, the withheld material includes information whose disclosure could reveal law-enforcement investigative techniques and procedures and information that could reasonably be expected to place individuals at risk.
“One of the requests at issue is the request assigned Request Number 1588244-000, which sought ‘[t]he entire FBI file for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, DOB 3/29/1952, President-Elect of Nigeria as of February 2023’,” the FBI stated.
It said Greenspan filed another request seeking “FBI 302 interviews with Bola Tinubu from FBI Case No. 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU during the timeframe 1992-1993.”
That request was assigned number 1593615-000.
The FBI told the court that it had relied on various statutory exemptions in determining what information could be withheld.
“The FBI has invoked various Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Exemptions, including 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E) and 7(F) regarding these requests, and determined the information withheld from Plaintiff in this case, if disclosed, would, among other things, disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations and/or could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual,” the agency stated.
It added that some of its reasons could themselves not safely be explained publicly.
“The FBI has determined that it cannot provide on the public record the full basis for the application of Exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) to certain withholdings and that, therefore, an ex parte, under seal declaration is necessary.”
If the court grants the request, the FBI said it would submit the confidential declaration explaining the disputed withholdings on or before August 28.
The application concerns records sought under FOIA and does not constitute a finding by the court that Tinubu committed any criminal offence. The underlying allegations referenced in the litigation remain allegations, while the present dispute focuses on what US agencies are legally required to disclose under freedom-of-information law.
The latest application follows a prolonged legal battle over Greenspan’s efforts to obtain records from several US agencies.
In 2022 and 2023, Greenspan submitted 12 FOIA requests to six federal agencies seeking information relating to criminal investigations into a Chicago heroin-trafficking ring that operated in the early 1990s.
His requests sought records relating to four named individuals allegedly associated with the investigation: Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande and Abiodun Agbele.
Five federal agencies initially responded by refusing to confirm or deny whether the requested records existed.
That type of response is known in US freedom-of-information litigation as a Glomar response, under which an agency maintains that even confirming or denying the existence of records could itself disclose protected information.
Greenspan challenged those responses through the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy, but the office upheld the agencies’ position.
He subsequently filed a lawsuit on June 12, 2023, challenging the Glomar responses.
The FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Executive Office for United States Attorneys and Department of State were initially named as defendants.
The Central Intelligence Agency was later added as a defendant through an amended complaint.
A major development came in April 2025 when US District Judge Beryl Howell held that the Glomar responses issued by the FBI and DEA were improper and had to be lifted.
Howell ruled that the two agencies had failed to provide sufficient information to establish a cognisable privacy interest in concealing the fact that Tinubu had been the subject of an investigation.
The judge also held that the agencies had not carried their evidential burden for maintaining the blanket refusal to confirm or deny the existence of the requested records.
That ruling did not order the unrestricted publication of every document. Rather, it required the agencies to process the records under FOIA, subject to any legally applicable exemptions.
The present FBI application is part of that process, with the bureau now arguing that particular portions of the material remain protected even though it can no longer rely on a blanket Glomar response.
The litigation has also recently involved disputes over deadlines for producing the records.
The US Department of Justice sought an additional 10 days to comply with a court-imposed deadline concerning the records.
Judge Howell granted only four additional days, extending the deadline to August 21.
Tinubu, through his legal representatives, was also reported to have joined the request seeking the longer extension, but the judge declined to grant the full 10 days sought.
The FBI’s new August 20 filing therefore focuses not on whether responsive records exist, but on whether particular portions may lawfully remain concealed because of the risks the agency says disclosure would create.
The bureau is specifically relying on provisions protecting personal privacy, confidential sources, investigative methods and the safety of individuals.
If the court permits the proposed sealed filing, Judge Howell will be able to review the FBI’s confidential explanation without making the sensitive details public before determining whether the agency’s reliance on the exemptions is justified.
The dispute consequently remains a Freedom of Information Act case over the disclosure and withholding of federal investigative records, rather than a criminal proceeding against Tinubu, and no finding of criminal liability against the Nigerian President has been made in the case.
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