The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has submitted records relating to President Bola Tinubu’s 1993 drug-trafficking and money-laundering case to Beryl Howell, a judge of the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

According to Peoples Gazette, the FBI hand-delivered the records to the court on Friday and asked that they remain under seal while the judge reviews them.

The submission followed a court order directing the FBI to release records concerning Tinubu after the bureau missed several deadlines in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by transparency campaigner Aaron Greenspan.

Greenspan submitted the FOIA request in 2023 and worked with Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin in seeking access to the documents.

The FBI submitted the records under seal on August 28, 2026, for an ex parte, in-camera review, in compliance with a minute order issued by Judge Howell on August 20.

The judge had reportedly set August 28 as the final deadline for the FBI to comply after expressing concerns over the bureau’s repeated delays and explanations for withholding the records.

The latest development means the documents have been submitted directly to the judge and are not yet available to Greenspan, the petitioner in the case.

Earlier this week, the FBI argued that releasing the records could infringe on Tinubu’s privacy rights. The bureau also maintained that FOIA was primarily designed to provide access to government records and did not necessarily require the disclosure of information concerning private individuals.

Tinubu had opposed the release of the records, arguing that his political opponents could use them to damage his reputation ahead of elections. He urged the court to protect his privacy rights.

The controversy centres on Tinubu’s dealings with US authorities in the 1990s over allegations involving narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

Tinubu has largely declined to publicly address the controversy, which includes a 1993 case in which hundreds of thousands of dollars linked to him were forfeited to the US government.

In 2023, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois released documents detailing Tinubu’s interactions with American authorities over the allegations.

FBI submits Tinubu’s 1993 drug case records to US court

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