The Allied Peoples Movement has called on United States authorities to release records relating to a past FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration investigation involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The party made the demand on August 30, 2026, following renewed legal proceedings over records sought under the US Freedom of Information Act.
APM National Publicity Secretary Yusuf Abubakar said US authorities could release portions of the records that do not expose confidential sources, witnesses, investigators or sensitive law enforcement methods.
The records are being sought by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who filed a Freedom of Information Act case against several US government agencies. His request includes FBI records concerning Tinubu and interview records from 1992 and 1993.
The dispute has now moved into another stage after Tinubu’s legal team challenged the further release of records. His lawyers have argued that disclosure could violate privacy protections and have asked the court to maintain redactions or withholdings made by the FBI and DEA.
The legal dispute follows a 2025 ruling by US District Judge Beryl Howell. The court found that public government filings had already acknowledged that Tinubu was a subject of an investigation involving the FBI and DEA, meaning the agencies could not rely on a so called Glomar response to refuse to confirm or deny the existence of certain records.
The US Department of Justice’s published summary of the ruling says the case involved requests concerning individuals connected to a broader Chicago narcotics investigation. The court also found that official public disclosures had already acknowledged an investigation involving another named individual and the FBI and DEA.
The latest dispute concerns what information can lawfully be released from the investigative files.
Reports from Channels Television said Tinubu’s lawyers filed a 16 page court document on August 28, 2026, asking the court to reject further disclosure and allow existing redactions and withholdings to remain. The legal team argued that Tinubu retained privacy interests in investigative files even though some information connected with the earlier civil forfeiture proceedings was already public.
APM has nevertheless argued that the records are a matter of public interest, particularly because Tinubu is expected to seek another term in the 2027 presidential election.
The party also referred to a 1993 US civil forfeiture case involving about 460,000 dollars and accounts it says were connected to Tinubu. The existence of the forfeiture proceeding is part of the public record, but the forfeiture itself should not be presented as a criminal conviction for drug trafficking.
APM has called on US authorities to release whatever material can legally be disclosed without compromising witnesses, investigators or sensitive investigative techniques.
The controversy comes as Nigerian political parties begin positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 election, putting renewed attention on Tinubu’s past in the United States and the continuing court fight over the records.
