In a controversial U.S. court case from 1993, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu allegedly forfeited $460,000 to the U.S. government after his accounts were frozen due to suspected connections to heroin trafficking.
According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has effectively confirmed that sitting President Tinubu, is an active asset of the agency.
Renewed attention on this case has surfaced following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Aaron Greenspan, founder of PlainSite, and David Hundeyin, Editor-in-Chief of West Africa Weekly.
However, the FOIA proceedings, initially filed in 2022, have now been temporarily awaiting. Greenspan and Hundeyin intend to resume the case once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The FOIA lawsuit seeks to access unredacted intelligence records related to President Tinubu’s suspected cooperation with U.S. agencies, with particular focus on redacted CIA, FBI, and DEA files. In a federal court filing, the agencies filed a memorandum opposing the release of fully unredacted documents, citing national security concerns.
According to the CIA’s response, disclosing information on individuals potentially cooperating with the agency could jeopardize U.S. intelligence efforts. The agency argued that public confirmation of any cooperation with Tinubu might endanger U.S. national security by exposing both the President and other CIA-affiliated sources. The filing emphasized the risk of revealing CIA operations and intelligence channels, stating, “Confirming or denying the existence of records on a particular foreign national, like Tinubu, reasonably could be expected to cause damage to U.S. national security.”
Meanwhile, the DEA’s filing expressed a strong stance on limiting disclosure to protect sensitive information on Tinubu’s alleged heroin trafficking connections. The DEA memo stated, “We oppose full, unredacted disclosure of the DEA’s Bola Tinubu heroin trafficking investigation records because we believe that while Nigerians have a right to be informed about what their government is up to, they do not have a right to know what their president is up to.”
These developments have fueled speculation about the role of the U.S. government in African affairs, with critics arguing that American intelligence involvement has historically contributed to political instability on the continent. As the Trump administration prepares to take office, the international community will be watching closely to see how it handles this complex and politically charged case.
NN News Media recalled that Trump had declared a “full-scale war on drug cartels,” emphasizing a ruthless crackdown on traffickers who, according to him, are wreaking havoc on American society.
This development comes as President Joe Biden’s administration has faced criticism for obstructing the release of Tinubu’s 1993 drug case file during Nigeria’s presidential court tribunal.
Tinubu, who was allegedly arrested and charged with drug trafficking and money laundering in the U.S. in the ’90s, could see his case come under new scrutiny.
