By Ghazali Ibrahim
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned that releasing some records relating to President Bola Tinubu could endanger the lives or physical safety of individuals.
The agency made the disclosure in a court filing dated August 20, 2026, in which it asked the US District Court for the District of Columbia for permission to privately explain why some of the records should remain withheld.
The FBI said it could not publicly disclose the full basis for withholding certain documents because doing so could reveal sensitive law-enforcement techniques and procedures.
It is therefore seeking permission to submit an ex parte, in camera declaration, allowing the agency to present its explanation privately to the judge under seal.
The records were requested by Aaron Greenspan, founder of PlainSite, who filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking documents relating to Tinubu from 1992 and 1993.
Among the documents requested are Tinubu’s FBI file and interview records connected to an FBI investigation.
In its latest application, the FBI said it had relied on several exemptions under the US FOIA, including provisions protecting personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement techniques and information whose disclosure could endanger an individual’s life or physical safety.
The agency stated that it could not provide the full justification for its reliance on exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) on the public record, making a confidential declaration necessary.
The FBI said it would file the declaration before August 28 if the court approves its request.
The development is the latest stage in a long-running legal battle over US government records relating to allegations connected to Tinubu and a Chicago drug investigation dating back to the early 1990s.
Greenspan had filed multiple FOIA requests with six US federal agencies, including the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The agencies initially refused to confirm or deny whether some of the requested records existed, a position commonly known as a “Glomar response.”
However, in April 2025, US District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the FBI and DEA had not sufficiently justified their refusal to confirm or deny the existence of records concerning Tinubu.
The judge subsequently ordered the agencies to lift their Glomar responses and address the records requests.
The latest FBI filing comes as the US Department of Justice continues to comply with court orders concerning the documents.
Tinubu’s legal team had also requested additional time to respond to the proceedings, but Judge Howell reportedly rejected a request for a 10-day extension.
