The Presidency has clarified that the ongoing court case involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the United States is a civil dispute over access to government records and not a criminal trial.
The clarification was made by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a statement issued on Thursday, September 3, 2026.
Onanuga said the matter before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia is centred on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking records relating to Tinubu and disputes over the extent to which some of those records can be disclosed.
“For clarity, the matter is a civil records-disclosure dispute under the United States Freedom of Information Act. It is not a criminal case against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, nor has the court found him guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” the Presidency said.
According to the statement, the case originated from FOIA requests submitted in 2022 by Aaron Greenspan, who sought records relating to Tinubu from several US government agencies.
After some agencies withheld records or declined to confirm or deny whether they had responsive documents, Greenspan instituted a lawsuit in 2023.
Tinubu was subsequently allowed to participate in the proceedings as an intervenor.
The Presidency said several agencies were later removed from the case after the court ruled on their positions, leaving issues involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for further consideration.
It said the FBI and DEA have so far produced 399 pages of records, although portions were redacted under exemptions contained in US law.
The plaintiff has challenged the redactions, while the agencies have argued that some of the withheld information is protected by law.
The exemptions cited include protections relating to grand jury proceedings, attorney-client and attorney-work-product privileges, law-enforcement information, personal privacy, confidential sources and investigative techniques.
The Presidency said Tinubu, acting on the advice of his lawyers, had also invoked FOIA Exemption 7(C), which provides privacy protection for certain law-enforcement records.
Onanuga stressed that the court’s eventual decision on whether the disputed records should be released or remain redacted would not, in itself, establish criminal liability.
“The litigation is a civil records-disclosure dispute under FOIA. It does not constitute a criminal charge, trial or judicial finding against President Tinubu,” the statement said.
The Presidency also referred to a February 4, 2003 letter from the American Consulate in Lagos to then Inspector-General of Police Tafa Balogun, saying the letter stated that an FBI records check had found no criminal arrest records, wants or warrants for Tinubu, who was then Governor of Lagos State.
The statement further said the plaintiff has until September 11, 2026, to file an opposition and reply to processes filed by the defendants and Tinubu, while the FBI, DEA and Tinubu have until September 18 to respond.
The Presidency also rejected recent claims about the involvement of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Karl Von Batten in the litigation, saying neither is a party to the case.
It urged the media and the public to distinguish the actual court proceedings from political commentary, stressing that the US court would determine whether the disputed redactions are lawful based on the evidence, applicable law and arguments presented by the parties.
