Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu on Tuesday received a temporary relief after a federal judge in the United States denied a request for an urgent release of the Nigerian leader’s confidential records compiled by American law enforcement authorities.
An American, Aaron Greenspan, had filed a suit in June under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) against the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
In his complaint, Greenspan accused the law enforcement agencies of violating the FIOA by failing to release within the statutory time “documents relating to purported federal investigations into” President Tinubu and one Mueez Adegboyega Akande, who is now deceased.
According to Greenspan, the records being requested were from the Northern District of Illinois and/or Northern District of Indiana “involving charging decisions” against Messrs Tinubu and Akande.
In 1993, Tinubu was said to have forfeited $460,000 to the American government after authorities linked the funds to proceeds of narcotics trafficking.
The issue of Tinubu’s forfeiture of the funds featured prominently at the Presidential Election Petition Court where Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, challenged the president’s eligibility to contest Nigeria’s presidency.
But the election court in a unanimous decision, on 6 September, dismissed the suits, affirming Tinubu’s election.
