The urgent release of President Bola Tinubu’s confidential records compiled by US law enforcement has been rejected by a United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C.
Transparency activist Aaron Greenspan filed a motion to compel the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and other the US bodies to hand over whatever documents they had scheduled to release by the end of October.
After Tinubu sent out lawyers to oppose the release, saying that it would violate his privacy and other statutory rights, Greenspan filed the emergency request.
He said that Tinubu was attempting to delay the documents’ release in order to prevent any impact the disclosures may have on the ongoing election dispute at the Nigerian Supreme Court.
But in a ruling on Monday, Judge Beryl Howell denied the hearing to compel the immediate release of the documents, saying that no hearing to determine the merits of the motion is necessary.
Judge Howell, in her decision, said Greenspan did not adequately justify his request for an urgent hearing on his motion for expedited release of records, especially against the need to protect Tinubu’s interest.
She ruled: “Plaintiff has not made any representation to the court that the balance of equities tips in his favour or that the granting of his motion would further the public interest.
“Given that the FOIA request is for records that, if any exist, may be of a highly sensitive and private nature and that the subject of those documents, Bola A. Tinubu, has had no opportunity to protect his privacy interests in any such records, the balance of equities militates strongly in favour of denying this emergency motion.
“Plaintiff’s emergency motion for a hearing to compel immediate document production is denied. No hearing to determine the merits of this motion is necessary.”
Additionally, the judge granted President Tinubu’s request to have Christopher Carmichael, his lawyer, present in court.
However, she has yet to rule on the President’s motion to intervene in the matter.
The government will not take a position on whether Tinubu should join the case or not, according to a statement made earlier by the U.S. Department of Justice, represented by Matthew Graves.
“On behalf of the defendants, the undersigned counsel does not take a position as to whether the court should grant Bola Tinubu’s motion to intervene,” Graves said.
Ada Peter
