The Presidency has dismissed reports suggesting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is facing a criminal case in the United States, clarifying that the ongoing proceedings before a Washington, DC, court are a civil dispute over access to government records.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the clarification in a statement on Thursday, stressing that the case has not resulted in any finding of criminal wrongdoing against the Nigerian President.
According to Onanuga, the matter arose from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan in 2022, seeking records from several US government agencies.
Greenspan subsequently filed Civil Action No. 23-1816 in 2023 after pursuing the requests.
Onanuga said Tinubu was later permitted by the court to participate in the proceedings as an intervenor, allowing him to protect his privacy interests in the records being sought.
“For clarity, the matter is a civil records-disclosure dispute under the United States Freedom of Information Act. It is not a criminal case against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, nor has the court found him guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” Onanuga said.
He explained that the Central Intelligence Agency, the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service have since been removed from the case after obtaining summary judgment based on what is known as the “Glomar defence.”
The defence allows US government agencies, under certain circumstances, to neither confirm nor deny the existence of particular records.
However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) remain parties to the suit and have released 399 pages of records, although portions of the documents were redacted under exemptions provided by US law.
Onanuga said the redactions were based on several legal protections, including grand jury secrecy, attorney-client privilege, law enforcement considerations and personal privacy.
He added that some records were withheld to protect confidential sources and prevent the disclosure of investigative techniques used by law enforcement agencies.
The presidential aide also said Tinubu had invoked his privacy rights under a FOIA exemption in the proceedings.
The Presidency noted that Greenspan has until September 11 to respond to filings submitted by the defendants and Tinubu, while the FBI, DEA and the President have until September 18 to file further responses.
The clarification comes amid reports and public discussions surrounding the US court proceedings, with the Presidency insisting that the case should not be portrayed as a criminal trial involving the Nigerian President.
