Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that key US law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and DEA, must release records related to President Bola Tinubu’s alleged involvement in a drug trafficking case. The decision comes after a motion was filed by Aaron Greenspan, accusing the FBI and DEA of violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by withholding documents related to investigations into Tinubu and his associate, Abiodun Agbele.

The inquiry revolves around the $460,000 that Tinubu allegedly forfeited to the US government in 1993, following its connection to narcotics trafficking. Judge Howell deemed the law enforcement agencies’ refusal to disclose the information “neither logical nor plausible,” and ordered the release of the records, stating that the agencies’ Glomar responses—where they neither confirm nor deny the existence of records—were improper.

“The claim that the Glomar responses were necessary to protect this information from public disclosure is at this point neither logical nor plausible,” Howell said.

The judge further explained that FOIA requesters can challenge an agency’s refusal to confirm or deny the existence of records if prior disclosures have already waived any exemptions. Greenspan’s case challenges both the FBI and DEA’s claims that releasing the records would harm national security or privacy interests, arguing that the public’s right to know outweighs these concerns. He contends that both the FBI and DEA have already officially acknowledged investigations into Tinubu’s alleged involvement in the drug trafficking ring.

The issue of the $460,000 forfeiture resurfaced during the 2023 presidential election. Despite facing legal challenges, Tinubu won the presidency, defeating former candidates Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar. Obi and Atiku’s petition to annul the election was dismissed by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld Tinubu’s victory.