ICYMI: FBI confirms Tinubu was subject of US criminal investigation

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ABUJA, Nigeria (NPA) — The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed in a sworn declaration that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the subject of a criminal investigation linked to drug-trafficking activities in the United States in the early 1990s.

However, the existence of investigative records does not, by itself, establish that Tinubu committed a crime or was convicted of any offence.

The FBI’s declaration, filed on August 28, 2026, forms part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking access to US law enforcement records relating to the Nigerian president.

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According to reports on the filing, the FBI said the responsive records sought in the case were compiled during an investigation involving multiple individuals for alleged drug-trafficking crimes.

The latest development follows an April 2025 ruling by Judge Beryl A. Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, which ordered the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to search for and process non-exempt records relating to FOIA requests filed by transparency activist Aaron Greenspan.

Judge Howell ruled that the FBI and DEA could no longer rely on so-called “Glomar” responses — a procedure through which government agencies neither confirm nor deny the existence of requested records.

The court held that the agencies had officially acknowledged that Tinubu had been the subject of an investigation and ordered them to process non-exempt records responsive to the requests.

The FOIA requests were filed by Greenspan in connection with investigations into a Chicago-based drug-trafficking and money-laundering network operating in the early 1990s.

While the FBI’s latest declaration confirms the existence of records connected to the investigation, the available court records do not, by themselves, establish criminal wrongdoing or amount to a conviction against Tinubu.

Parts of the records have also remained withheld or redacted under FOIA exemptions designed to protect personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement methods and other sensitive information.

The issue has generated renewed political controversy in Nigeria, particularly as the country moves towards the 2027 general elections.

Opposition figures and critics of the President have pointed to the FBI’s confirmation as evidence that Tinubu was the subject of a criminal investigation in the United States.

The Presidency and Tinubu’s supporters, however, have maintained that being investigated does not amount to being found guilty, stressing that the President was not convicted of drug trafficking in the United States.

Tinubu has also moved to oppose further disclosure of certain records, with his legal team arguing that the Freedom of Information Act should not be used as a tool to expose private information about individuals contained in government files.

His lawyers have further argued that the 2025 court ruling requiring the FBI and DEA to acknowledge and process records did not remove Tinubu’s privacy interests in the contents of the investigative files.

According to the legal filings, Tinubu’s team is seeking to prevent further disclosure of information it considers protected under privacy and law-enforcement exemptions.

The controversy has again brought renewed attention to the distinction between an investigation and a criminal conviction.

While an investigation means that law-enforcement authorities examined allegations or gathered information relating to an individual, a criminal conviction can only follow a formal judicial process in which guilt is established according to the applicable law.

As the legal battle over the release of the remaining records continues in the United States, the political debate surrounding the documents is expected to remain a major issue in Nigeria’s increasingly charged political environment ahead of the 2027 elections.