Tinubu Joins US Justice Department’s Bid for 10-Day Extension Over Release of Records
By The Analyst News Desk
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally joined a request by the United States Department of Justice for a 10-day extension to respond to a court directive concerning the release of law-enforcement records linked to a decades-old investigation involving allegations of drug trafficking.
Tinubu’s legal team filed a notice of joinder before the US District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking to keep the President’s response on the same schedule as the US government in the ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation.
The case was instituted by US transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan, who is seeking records from agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) relating to past investigations involving Tinubu.
The records sought are connected to a federal narcotics investigation dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding involving approximately $460,000 associated with Tinubu.
The Justice Department had sought an additional 10 days to respond to the court’s directive. Tinubu subsequently joined the request, with his lawyers asking that his response remain on the same schedule as the defendants.
However, US District Judge Beryl Howell did not grant the full 10-day extension. Instead, the court set August 21, 2026, as the deadline for the government and Tinubu to respond, according to reports on the proceedings.
The latest development has renewed attention on the long-running FOIA case, which has been before the US court for more than three years.
Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing and has not been convicted of drug trafficking in the United States. His legal representatives have maintained that the 1993 proceeding was a civil forfeiture case involving money rather than a criminal prosecution against him personally.
The controversy surrounding the records also featured in legal challenges to Tinubu’s 2023 presidential election victory. However, Nigeria’s Presidential Election Petition Court dismissed the challenges and affirmed his election.
The current US proceedings are focused on whether and how records held by US government agencies should be released under the Freedom of Information Act. The existence of the requested records, or litigation seeking their disclosure, does not by itself establish that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence.
With the court maintaining August 21 as the operative deadline, attention is now focused on the responses expected from the US government and the President’s legal team.
The Analyst will continue to monitor developments in the case.