Tinubu Seeks Court Order to Block FBI, DEA Record Release

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has filed a request with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to block the release of records held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) concerning him. His legal team argues that disclosing these records would violate his privacy rights.

This request is in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit initiated by transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who seeks the FBI's entire file on Tinubu and records related to a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding involving approximately $460,000 allegedly linked to him. Tinubu's lawyers, Christopher W.

Carmichael, Victor P. Henderson, and Oluwole O.

Afolabi, contend that FOIA is not intended for obtaining private information about individuals. They reference the US Supreme Court's decision in U.S.

Department of Justice v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which supports the protection of privacy interests.

The court previously upheld the CIA's Glomar responses but directed the FBI and DEA to process non-exempt records.