By Gloria Drealomalicha
President Bola Tinubu has asked a United States federal court to stop the release of records held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration relating to past investigations involving him.
The move is part of a long-running Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by American transparency activist, Aaron Greenspan, who is seeking documents from US government agencies concerning Tinubu.
Greenspan’s requests include the FBI’s entire file on Tinubu and FBI Form 302 interview records relating to the period between 1992 and 1993.
The case also concerns records connected to a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding in the US involving about $460,000 linked to Tinubu.
Tinubu has denied any wrongdoing in connection with the matter.
In court documents filed on Friday, the President’s lawyers argued that releasing the requested records could infringe on his privacy rights.
The 16-page filing was signed by his legal team comprising Christopher W. Carmichael, Victor P. Henderson and Oluwole O. Afolabi.
The lawyers argued that the fact that some information relating to the forfeiture proceeding had previously been made public did not mean that Tinubu had lost his privacy interest in the wider investigative files.
“Regardless of the prior disclosure in the forfeiture proceeding, Intervenor retains a privacy interest in potential disclosure of the investigative files sought by Plaintiff,” the lawyers stated.
They relied on previous US court decisions to argue that individuals could retain privacy rights over information contained in government investigative files, even where limited details had previously been disclosed publicly.
Tinubu’s lawyers also challenged Greenspan’s arguments concerning the FBI’s search for records, the DEA’s document index, proposed redactions and the application of exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act.
They further argued that Greenspan’s filings showed that his primary objective was to obtain government documents containing Tinubu’s name.
The legal team urged the court not to allow the FOIA case to be used to obtain information that would otherwise be protected from disclosure.
“If this Court finds that Plaintiff cannot use FOIA to mine information in government files about a private individual, he should not be able to access documents with Intervenor’s ‘name on them’,” the lawyers argued.
They subsequently asked the court to reject Greenspan’s motion for summary judgment and allow the FBI and DEA to maintain their existing redactions and withholding of records.
The latest filing comes amid a wider legal battle over the requested documents. The FBI had earlier told the court that some records were subject to FOIA exemptions and sought permission to provide a confidential explanation to the judge for withholding certain information.
The case, before the US District Court for the District of Columbia, remains ongoing.
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