The Nigerian Presidency on Sunday said it is aware of the order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to release confidential information generated on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during their investigation over drug issues and fraud, saying “the lawyers are examining the ruling.”
The investigations were conducted in the 1990s.
The U.S. Judge, Beryl Howell, made the order on Tuesday, saying that protecting the information from public disclosure is “neither logical nor plausible.”
A Nigerian investigative journalist, David Hundeyin, and an American, Aaron Greenspan, had filed a suit in June 2023 under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) against the Executive Office for US Attorneys, Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
But reacting to the ruling, Presidential Spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, said: “Journalists have sought the Presidency’s reaction to the ruling last Tuesday by a Washington DC judge ordering the US FBI and DEA to release reports connected with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Our response is as follows. There is nothing new to be revealed. The report by Agent Moss of the FBI and the DEA report have been in the public space for more than 30 years.
“The reports did not indict the Nigerian leader. The lawyers are examining the ruling.”
