The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has asked a federal court in Washington, D.C., to allow it to submit a confidential explanation for why some records connected to requests concerning Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should remain withheld from the public.
In a court filing dated August 20, the FBI asked U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell for permission to submit an ex parte, in camera declaration. Such a filing is presented privately to the judge and is not placed on the public record.
The FBI said it could not fully explain in public why it was withholding certain information because doing so could reveal sensitive law-enforcement methods or information that could potentially threaten an individual's safety.
The application was made in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by Aaron Greenspan, an American businessman and founder of PlainSite. The filing was publicised on X by Von Batten-Montague-York, a Washington-based lobbying firm that has recently been engaged by former Nigerian Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
According to the FBI, one of Greenspan's FOIA requests sought the complete FBI file concerning Tinubu, while another requested FBI Form 302 interview records involving Tinubu from a 1992–1993 investigation identified by case number 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU.
The agency said it had applied several FOIA exemptions, including exemptions 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E) and 7(F), to information responsive to the requests.
The FBI said exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) were particularly relevant because disclosure could reveal law-enforcement investigative techniques and procedures or information that could reasonably be expected to endanger someone's life or physical safety.
The agency told the court that it could not provide the full justification for relying on those exemptions in a public filing. It therefore asked Howell to permit it to submit a separate declaration under seal for the judge's private review.
The FBI said it would submit the confidential declaration by August 28 if the court approved its request.
The latest development stems from a broader FOIA dispute involving records that Greenspan sought from several U.S. government agencies. Between 2022 and 2023, he filed 12 FOIA requests with six federal agencies seeking records connected to investigations into a Chicago heroin operation from the early 1990s.
The requests covered four individuals whom Greenspan alleged were connected to the investigation: Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Adegboyega Akande and Abiodun Agbele.
Several agencies initially responded with what is known as a “Glomar response”, meaning they refused to confirm or deny whether records responsive to the requests existed.
Greenspan challenged those responses through the Justice Department's Office of Information Policy, but the agencies' positions were upheld. He subsequently filed a lawsuit in June 2023 challenging the government's handling of his requests.
The FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Executive Office for United States Attorneys and Department of State were initially named as defendants. The Central Intelligence Agency was later added to the case.
In April 2025, Howell ruled that the FBI and DEA had improperly relied on Glomar responses in relation to Tinubu. She concluded that the agencies had not demonstrated sufficient privacy interests or provided adequate justification for refusing to confirm or deny the existence of the requested records.
The current dispute is therefore different from the earlier Glomar issue. Rather than simply refusing to acknowledge whether records exist, the FBI is now seeking to withhold portions of records under specific FOIA exemptions while asking the judge to consider its most sensitive justification privately.
The development does not, by itself, establish that Tinubu participated in drug trafficking or that the records sought by Greenspan substantiate the allegations against him. It concerns the FBI's legal basis for withholding information under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and whether the court will accept the agency's request for a confidential explanation.
The filing comes amid a separate dispute over the government's deadline for responding to Howell's orders concerning the release of Tinubu-related records. The Department of Justice had sought an additional 10 days, and Tinubu's legal team subsequently joined that request. Howell declined to grant the full extension and instead allowed only four additional days.
FBI Seeks Private Court Review of Withheld Tinubu Drug Probe Records
