Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has urged the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation not to allow legitimate protections for confidential sources, investigative techniques and the safety of individuals to become a blanket shield against the disclosure of information concerning President Bola Tinubu that may lawfully be released.
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Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress for the 2027 election, made the call in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, following the FBI’s recent application before a United States federal court over records sought concerning Tinubu.
The FBI had told the US District Court for the District of Columbia that some portions of the requested records could not be fully justified for withholding on the public record because disclosure could reveal sensitive law-enforcement techniques and procedures or reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of individuals.
The bureau consequently sought permission to submit an ex parte, under-seal declaration to the judge explaining its reliance on certain exemptions under the United States Freedom of Information Act.
Reacting, Atiku said he was not asking the FBI to expose undercover officers, confidential informants or genuinely sensitive investigative methods, but insisted that information capable of lawful disclosure should not be unnecessarily withheld from Nigerians.
“Protect your agents. Protect your sources. Protect legitimate investigative methods. Redact whatever American law genuinely requires you to redact,” Atiku said.
“But do not stretch those protections until they become a bulletproof vest for Tinubu.”
He argued that Nigerians have a legitimate democratic interest in information concerning the history and character of the person occupying the country’s highest political office.
“Our demand of American law enforcement is not a call to interfere in Nigeria’s politics. It is a humanitarian and democratic appeal rooted in the principle that people have a right to information legitimately available about those who exercise enormous power over their lives,” he said.
“Nigerians have a democratic right to know the history and character of the man who occupies their country’s highest office.”
According to Atiku, where information held by American law-enforcement agencies is relevant to that public interest and can lawfully be disclosed without compromising investigations or endangering individuals, principles of openness and democratic accountability should favour disclosure.
“Where information relevant to that legitimate public interest rests with American law enforcement and can lawfully be disclosed, the principles of openness and democratic accountability demand that it should not be unnecessarily hidden,” he said.
“If information can lawfully be released without endangering investigators, confidential sources or legitimate law-enforcement operations, release it.”
Atiku maintained that Nigerians were not asking the United States to interfere in the country’s democratic process.
“Nigerians are not asking America to conduct our democracy for us. We are saying that American secrecy laws must not inadvertently become a sanctuary from accountability in Nigeria,” he stated.
The former vice-president also reacted to the FBI’s assertion that disclosure of some information could reasonably be expected to endanger lives, using the argument to launch a broader criticism of the Tinubu administration’s economic and security record.
“The FBI said that disclosure could endanger lives. Which lives? Nigerians are already dying,” Atiku said.
He alleged that economic policies implemented since Tinubu assumed office had worsened the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians, while insecurity continued to claim lives in parts of the country.
“In the past three and a half years since Tinubu became Nigeria’s President, he has pursued economic policies that have made his government a threat to the daily survival of ordinary Nigerians,” he claimed.
“Many have been killed by terrorists and bandits. Many more have died amid hunger, inability to pay medical bills and the crushing emotional and economic pressure of being unable to provide food, shelter and basic necessities for their families.”
Atiku particularly criticised the removal of petrol subsidy, contending that it was implemented without adequate measures to shield vulnerable Nigerians from its economic consequences.
He said many households were struggling with food prices, transportation costs, healthcare expenses and debt.
“Families that once managed three meals now struggle for one. Parents cannot afford medicines for sick children. Breadwinners are buckling under debt and unbearable economic pressure,” he said.
“This is the human cost of Tinubu’s senseless removal of fuel subsidy without a credible plan to protect ordinary Nigerians.”
The former vice-president used the statement to reiterate his campaign commitment to restore a form of petrol subsidy if elected President in 2027.
“And this is precisely why the return of fuel subsidy under my watch is not negotiable,” he said.
Atiku, however, said the subsidy model he proposes would differ from the previous regime, describing it as targeted, capped and subject to transparency safeguards.
“I will not apologise for choosing the survival of Nigerians over economic dogma. The subsidy I propose will be targeted, transparently financed, capped and independently audited, with safeguards against corruption, diversion and criminal arbitrage,” he stated.
He argued that fuel prices have consequences across transportation, food prices, energy costs, production and employment.
“Fuel affects transportation. Transportation affects food prices. Energy affects production. Production affects jobs. All of them determine whether an ordinary Nigerian family can survive until the end of the month,” he said.
Atiku also criticised the Federal Government’s celebration of the end of petrol subsidy, arguing that economic policy should ultimately be assessed by its impact on citizens.
“So when Tinubu boasts that subsidy is gone, Nigerians should ask him what exactly he is celebrating: the empty cooking pots, abandoned medical prescriptions, unaffordable transport fares or businesses struggling to survive?” he asked.
“Atiku’s Nigeria will not measure economic success by how much suffering citizens can endure.”
The remarks represent Atiku’s political assessment of the administration’s policies. The Federal Government has repeatedly defended subsidy removal as necessary to address an unsustainable fiscal burden, reduce borrowing pressure and free resources for other levels of government and infrastructure.
Returning to the FBI dispute, Atiku stressed that his position was not that every document should be released without restriction, but that legitimate FOIA exemptions should be applied narrowly to protect genuine law-enforcement interests rather than prevent all meaningful public scrutiny.
He concluded with a direct message to the American agency.
“So, to the FBI, our message is simple: Protect your investigators. Protect your sources. Protect your methods. But do not protect the truth from Nigerians,” Atiku said.
“Our people are already paying for bad governance with their lives.”
The FBI’s application forms part of ongoing Freedom of Information Act litigation in the United States concerning investigative records sought in relation to Tinubu. The bureau has maintained that certain portions of the material may lawfully be withheld because disclosure could compromise investigative procedures or endanger individuals.
The litigation concerns disclosure of records and does not itself constitute a criminal proceeding against Tinubu or a judicial finding that he committed any criminal offence.
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