The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has confirmed in a sworn court declaration that President Bola Tinubu was the subject of a criminal investigation relating to drug-trafficking crimes in the early 1990s, even as the Presidency dismissed the renewed controversy surrounding the records as politically motivated ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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The confirmation was contained in a declaration filed on August 28, 2026, before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, case seeking access to FBI records concerning Tinubu.
According to the declaration, the FBI stated that “the responsive records herein were compiled in furtherance of the FBI’s investigation of multiple individuals for drug trafficking crimes.”
The agency further stated that “the court has already determined that an official acknowledgement had been made of an investigation of Bola Tinubu.”
The filing does not establish that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence, nor does it amount to evidence that he was convicted of any criminal offence in the United States.
The latest declaration followed an April 2025 ruling by US District Judge Beryl Howell, who held that the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration could no longer rely entirely on “Glomar” responses, under which agencies neither confirm nor deny the existence of requested records.
The judge held that the agencies had not established sufficient grounds to conceal the already acknowledged existence of an investigation involving Tinubu and directed them to process non-exempt records requested under the US Freedom of Information Act.
The case arose from FOIA requests filed by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan.
Among the materials sought were what Greenspan described as the “entire FBI file for Bola Ahmed Tinubu” and FBI Form 302 interview records involving Tinubu in FBI Case No. 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU between 1992 and 1993.
The requests formed part of a broader attempt to obtain law-enforcement records connected with an investigation into a Chicago heroin-trafficking network operating during that period.
Although the agencies have been required to process responsive records, the FBI continues to withhold portions of the materials under FOIA exemptions protecting personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement techniques and information whose disclosure could potentially endanger individuals.
The FBI has also maintained that some of the reasons underlying its reliance on particular exemptions cannot themselves be fully disclosed publicly.
The controversy took on a fresh political dimension after Von Batten-Montague-York, a Washington-based lobbying firm engaged by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2027 presidential election, publicised portions of the FBI declaration.
The firm said it was reviewing a large volume of records obtained from the FBI and redacting portions where necessary.
“The FBI states under oath that the court has already determined that a criminal investigation of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu was officially acknowledged,” the firm said.
It maintained that the document was being released to counter claims that Tinubu had never been criminally investigated in the United States.
“We are posting this document to counter the claim made yesterday that President Tinubu was never criminally investigated and is simply following the law to protect his privacy,” the firm stated.
“That claim is false, as shown by the FBI’s sworn declaration below.”
The Presidency, however, rejected the political interpretation being placed on the development.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, described the publicity surrounding the FBI records as part of a politically motivated campaign being driven ahead of the 2027 election.
“The coordinated media blitz orchestrated around a Washington, D.C. advisory firm is not an intelligence breakthrough; it is a clinical demonstration of desperation,” Dare said.
He argued that statements issued by the lobbying firm should not be presented as representing the position of the United States government.
“The incendiary press releases being carefully churned out from Washington are public relations propaganda sheets passed off as the view of the U.S. Government. They are not,” he said.
Dare also challenged those making wider allegations concerning Tinubu to produce evidence supporting claims involving supposedly classified intelligence.
“Sane minds must categorically dismiss these reports as fabricated, politically motivated, and entirely unsupported by evidence,” he said.
“We demand that they produce the so-called ‘highly classified intelligence report,’ identify their unnamed sources, and provide tangible evidence for their wild allegations.”
According to Dare, publicly available filings under the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act showed that Atiku engaged Von Batten-Montague-York on a $1.2 million, 12-month retainer.
He alleged that the arrangement was intended to counter Nigerian government narratives and deploy historical American judicial and investigative records for political advantage ahead of the 2027 election.
Dare also questioned suggestions that the lobbying firm’s principal, Dr Karl-Marx Edward Okeke-Von Batten, had any substantive role in the FOIA litigation.
He argued that the case had been ongoing since 2023 and that the firm was not responsible for the underlying court proceedings.
“He has absolute zero to do with what is playing out in the U.S. court system,” Dare said.
“The case has been active since 2023, and the FBI’s main concern is simply the protection of the techniques by which it gathers information and the safety of its sources.”
The presidential aide also rejected attempts to connect Tinubu’s current foreign travel with the US litigation.
“This orchestrated distraction attempts to tie the President’s movements to foreign legal proceedings, but the facts are clear: President Tinubu is on a previously scheduled annual leave, and there is absolutely no connection between the President’s European trip and the ongoing U.S. FOIA proceedings,” he said.
Dare further relied on recent comments by Tinubu’s lawyer, Wole Afolabi, SAN, who has defended efforts to prevent the disclosure of portions of the FBI and DEA records.
According to Dare, Afolabi explained that the withholding of some materials was anchored on United States laws protecting confidential investigative procedures, sources and personal information.
He said the lawyer also maintained that if Tinubu had been found criminally liable under United States law at the time, American authorities would have indicted and prosecuted him.
“He emphasized the core reality: if the president had been criminally liable under U.S. law during past investigations, American authorities would have indicted and prosecuted him at the time,” Dare said.
Tinubu’s legal team has separately opposed broader disclosure of the requested materials, arguing that the release of personal information contained in government investigative files would violate his privacy rights.
The Presidency also accused opposition politicians of concentrating on decades-old American records rather than presenting alternative economic and governance proposals to Nigerians ahead of the 2027 election.
“The opposition’s 2027 framework remains devoid of noble economic blueprints, structural innovation, or issue-based engagement,” Dare said.
He maintained that Tinubu’s political record should ultimately be assessed through elections and governance performance rather than the circulation of historical US law-enforcement documents.
“True democratic validation is earned through the ballot box and tangible service delivery to the citizens at home, not through manufactured headlines bought and paid for in foreign currency,” he stated.
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