The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have been ordered to release documents relating to an alleged drug trafficking investigation involving Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.
A United States District Court in Columbia gave the ruling recently, ordering the parties involved to provide a status update on the case by May 2, 2025.
In a decision dated April 8, 2025, Judge Beryl Howell directed both agencies to search for and disclose all non-exempt materials related to the case, following multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by American legal transparency advocate, Aaron Greenspan.
Greenspan, founder of the platform PlainSite, had filed 12 FOIA applications between 2022 and 2023. His requests sought details about a Chicago drug ring active in the early 1990s, naming Tinubu alongside Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele.
The court stated that the FBI and DEA had “officially confirmed investigations of Tinubu relating to the drug trafficking ring,” marking a rare public acknowledgment of the matter.
The agencies are now compelled to process and release all non-exempt documents tied to the FOIA requests.
