1.9.2026
US Federal Bureau of Investigations has confirmed in a sworn court declaration President Bola Tinubu was indeed under drug investigations back in the 1990s.
The declaration, filed Aug. 28 before the US District Court for the District of Columbia, forms part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking access to US law enforcement records relating to Tinubu.
And Von Batten-Montague-York the firm hired by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to pursue the release of the case file said it has obtained a large volume of records from the FBI and was reviewing and redacting some of the material before publication.
The latest filing follows an April 2025 ruling by US District Judge Beryl Howell, who found that public filings by the US Justice Department had already officially acknowledged that Tinubu was one subject of a criminal investigation involving, among other agencies, the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The judge consequently ordered the FBI and DEA to search for and process non-exempt records sought under FOIA.
The case was brought by Aaron Greenspan, who requested FBI records relating to Tinubu, including his entire FBI file and interview records from 1992 and 1993.
The records relate to a broader investigation into a Chicago-based heroin trafficking and money-laundering operation in the early 1990s.
The court’s 2025 ruling, however, did not find that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offense, nor did it amount to a criminal charge or conviction against him.
The FBI has continued to withhold or redact portions of the records, citing exemptions under US freedom-of-information law covering personal privacy, confidential sources, law enforcement methods and information that could endanger individuals.
Tinubu’s legal team has also challenged further disclosure of records in the case, according to recent court filings. With AA reports