President Bola Tinubu has been accused of using delay tactics to pause the release of his files by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), but failed.
An American activist and owner of PlainSite, Aaron Greenspan, made the accusation in a countermotion filed before the U.S. Court for the Northern District of Columbia in Washington D.C. on Monday.
Tinubu had filed a motion to stop the United States federal agencies from releasing documents relating to him, stating that he would be “adversely affected” by the disclosure.
In his motion, Greenspan said Tinubu is trying to buy time in a desperate attempt to cling to power in Nigeria and delay his records before the Supreme Court judgement on the 2023 presidential election.
He also claimed that the President is plotting to stop his rivals from using the records against him at Nigeria’s Supreme Court, where his election victory is being contested.
“Bola Ahmed Tinubu is an alleged criminal trying to buy time in a desperate attempt to cling to power in Nigeria, which the FOIA materials in this action directly threaten,” he said.
Greenspan said he could see through Tinubu’s foot-dragging antics to fool the U.S. court into delaying the release of his records because he knew the documents could bungle his case at the apex court in Nigeria.
“To call Tinubu’s motion a last-ditch attempt at buying time is an understatement. This action has been pending in open court for approximately five months. Its filing was covered in Nigerian media,” asserted Mr Greenspan in his opposition to the Nigerian leader’s request.
“The timing of Tinubu’s submission is suspicious given the Nigerian Supreme Court’s simultaneous proceedings and should be treated as meritless accordingly,” he added.
The PlainSite owner worked closely with Nigerian journalist, David Hundeyin to submit a freedom of information request for Tinubu’s records in 2022, which the FBI is now set to release in October.
