A U.S. federal judge has ordered the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to release documents related to a past criminal investigation involving Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and an alleged drug trafficking ring.
Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued the ruling on April 8, directing both agencies to search for and provide non-exempt records in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by American researcher Aaron Greenspan.
Greenspan submitted 12 FOIA requests between 2022 and 2023, seeking records linked to a 1990s Chicago drug operation and individuals including Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele.
Previously, both the FBI and DEA had refused to confirm or deny the existence of such records, citing the “Glomar response.” But Judge Howell rejected that defense in this case.
“The FBI and DEA have both officially confirmed investigations of Tinubu relating to the drug trafficking ring,” the court ruled. “Any privacy interests implicated by the FOIA requests to the FBI and DEA for records about Tinubu are overcome by the public interest in the release of such information.”
The judge added: “They have failed to meet their burden to sustain their Glomar responses and provide an additional reason why these responses must be lifted.”
While the court sided with Greenspan on the FBI and DEA documents, it upheld the CIA’s right to withhold its records.
“Plaintiff is entitled to summary judgment as to each of the four Glomar responses asserted by defendants FBI and DEA,” the ruling stated. “The CIA, meanwhile, is entitled to judgment in its favour.”
The agencies must now begin processing any responsive, non-exempt documents. All involved parties have been instructed to file a joint status report by May 2, 2025.
