President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, acting through his legal representatives, has asked the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to prevent the public disclosure of his unredacted records held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
According to court filings made public on Saturday, Tinubu argued that the documents are protected under the US Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act, maintaining that their release is not supported by any overriding public interest.
His lawyers also claimed the request was driven by political considerations, alleging that Aaron Greenspan, an American transparency activist who brought the case, had ulterior motives in seeking records that mention the President’s name.
The legal team further contended that the materials fall under privacy protections provided by FOIA and the US Privacy Act, specifically citing Exemption 7(C), which shields personal information contained in law enforcement records from disclosure.
“The asserted ‘public interest in Tinubu’s own fitness for office’ is not an interest FOIA recognises or one that needs to be balanced. The redacted information sought by the plaintiff is exempt from disclosure.”
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Greenspan had requested the release of the records under the US FOIA, arguing that his request concerned the sitting President of Nigeria and the millions of Nigerians whose lives are affected by Tinubu’s decisions.
However, Tinubu’s lawyers rejected the argument that Nigerians’ interest in the President’s background constituted a public interest recognised under US law. They maintained that FOIA was intended to provide information about government activities rather than private citizens.
The legal team also cited a 1989 US Supreme Court ruling to support its position, arguing that releasing the requested records would reveal little or nothing about the conduct of government agencies.
The development has renewed political debate in Nigeria, with opposition figures insisting that Nigerians deserve greater transparency about the President’s background.