President Donald Trump this week signed an executive action designating major foreign drug cartels as terrorist organisations, a step that allows the United States military to use lethal force against them.
Video from the Oval Office shows the president receiving the document, signing it at his desk and returning the folder after brief remarks.
The announcement has intensified attention in Nigeria on a long running demand for the full release of American investigative files on President Bola Tinubu. Many Nigerians have called for the unredacted records to be made public. Tinubu and his lawyers have moved in court to stop or limit that release.
The files relate to an early 1990s inquiry into a white heroin network in Chicago. Court papers identified Adegboyega Mueez Akande as a leader of the organisation and Abiodun Agbele as an associate later arrested after selling heroin to an undercover officer. Investigators alleged that proceeds were deposited into bank accounts opened and controlled by Tinubu, then an employee of Mobil Oil in Nigeria.
In July 1993 the United States filed a civil forfeiture action in the Northern District of Illinois seeking more than one million dollars held in First Heritage Bank and Citibank accounts in Tinubu’s name. The government said the funds were narcotics proceeds or had been used in money laundering. Tinubu was not arrested, indicted or convicted. The case targeted the accounts. In September 1993 the parties settled. A judge ordered 460000 dollars from one First Heritage account forfeited to the United States and stated that those funds represented proceeds of narcotics trafficking or violated federal money laundering laws. Remaining money was returned.
The current fight is before Judge Beryl Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan sued under the Freedom of Information Act for the entire FBI file on Tinubu and for 1992 to 1993 interview reports. In April 2025 Judge Howell ruled that the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration could no longer refuse to confirm or deny that they had investigated Tinubu. She held that official acknowledgements already existed and that privacy claims did not justify total secrecy.
The FBI later told the court the records were compiled during an investigation of multiple people for drug trafficking crimes. Agencies have produced hundreds of pages, many redacted. In August 2026 the FBI submitted additional material to Judge Howell under seal for private review and asked to keep some details secret, citing investigative methods and safety. Tinubu intervened in the case and has argued that further disclosure would invade his privacy.
Washington firm Von Batten Montague York has pressed for wider release. The firm submitted more than 60 pages of Justice Department documents on the 1993 forfeiture and related allegations to members of the Trump administration and to Congress. It has also publicised court filings in the Freedom of Information case. The firm has said many American officials were previously unaware of the old Justice Department allegations.
Nigerians continue to demand the remaining records. Tinubu continues to work through the Washington court to block or narrow their release. Judge Howell still controls what may be made public.
The new American policy on cartels and the unresolved request for fuller 1990s investigative records have now entered public discussion together.
