The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned that the release of certain records linked to President Bola Tinubu could expose its agents, informants and other individuals involved in past investigations to serious threats, including possible assassination.
The warning was contained in a court filing submitted in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit before Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, DC.
The legal battle centres on efforts by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, the lead plaintiff in the case, to obtain records relating to allegations concerning Tinubu’s activities in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s.
Greenspan had submitted FOIA requests to several US government agencies, including the FBI, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and immigration authorities, seeking documents connected to the Nigerian president.
FBI cites threat to lives
In its latest submission to the court, the FBI argued that releasing some of the information contained in the records could put individuals who assisted or participated in investigations at risk of retaliation.
The bureau relied, among other provisions, on FOIA Exemption 7(F), which permits government agencies to withhold information where disclosure could reasonably be expected to endanger an individual’s life or physical safety.
According to the FBI, identifying certain individuals mentioned in the investigative material could expose them to violent retaliation from third parties allegedly connected to the criminal activities referenced in the records.
The bureau further argued that some people whose names appear in the files could face serious consequences if information capable of identifying them were made public.
It maintained that individuals who provided information to investigators, assisted investigations or were otherwise connected to the cases could potentially become targets if their identities were exposed.
The FBI therefore urged the court to consider the potential risks to the safety of those individuals when determining whether the disputed records should be released.
How the legal battle started
The latest filing followed an order by Judge Howell directing the FBI to explain why it continued to withhold records sought by Greenspan.
The court also allowed the bureau to submit its explanation and relevant documents privately for judicial review.
Greenspan’s request is part of a wider effort to obtain historical US government records concerning Tinubu.
The activist has pursued documents from multiple federal agencies in an attempt to shed more light on allegations surrounding the president’s activities in the United States several decades ago.
The dispute has attracted significant attention because some of the requested records are connected to a 1993 US civil forfeiture case involving $460,000 associated with Tinubu that was forfeited to the US government.
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The matter has also generated political controversy in Nigeria, with opposition figures repeatedly calling for greater transparency concerning the president’s past.
However, the FBI’s latest position centres not on the political arguments surrounding the case but on the privacy and safety implications of releasing information contained in law-enforcement files.
The bureau has maintained that certain records cannot simply be released without considering the potential consequences for people whose identities or involvement in investigations could be exposed.
As the legal battle continues, the court will ultimately determine whether the disputed records should remain protected, be released in full, or be disclosed with portions redacted.
For now, the FBI’s warning has added another dramatic dimension to a case that has already placed decades-old records concerning the Nigerian president under renewed scrutiny in a US federal court.