U.S. federal agencies are expected to release long-awaited investigation reports on Friday, May 2, concerning a 1990s drug-related case allegedly involving Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
However, the Nigerian Presidency failed in its attempt to block the release of decades-old U.S. government documents. Despite objections from the Presidency, a U.S. District Court ordered agencies including the FBI, IRS, DEA, and others to release the documents on May 2.
The release follows a recent court order mandating disclosure.
The agencies named in the order include the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). However, the CIA is exempt from disclosing documents in this case.
The directive was issued by Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in early April 2025. The judge ordered all parties—except the CIA—to file a joint report on any unresolved matters and to release the relevant records by May 2.
The ruling stems from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed in June 2023 by American transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan. Greenspan accused the agencies of violating FOIA laws by failing to release documents related to alleged federal investigations into President Tinubu and Abiodun Agbele within the legally required timeframe.
Between 2022 and 2023, Greenspan submitted 12 FOIA requests to various agencies, seeking information on a joint investigation reportedly carried out by the FBI, IRS, DEA, and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in Indiana and Illinois. The requests named four individuals allegedly linked to a drug trafficking network: Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele.
Judge Howell dismissed the government’s attempts to withhold the documents, stating that keeping them sealed was “neither logical nor plausible.”
Legal experts have indicated that the order could still be appealed. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Presidency has downplayed the relevance of the documents, asserting that the information is not new and contains nothing that implicates the president.
