By Abiola Olawale
The Nigerian Presidency has declared that the ongoing legal battle in a United States federal court regarding President Bola Tinubu’s historical records is strictly a civil transparency dispute and not a criminal trial.
In a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the government drew a hard line against what it termed “partisan misrepresentation” of judicial proceedings unfolding in Washington, D.C.
The Presidency emphasized that President Tinubu is not facing criminal charges, has not been put on trial, and has never been found guilty of any criminal wrongdoing by any American court.
He said the case, filed by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, does not amount to a criminal trial and has not produced any finding of wrongdoing against Tinubu.
“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,” Onanuga said.
Shedding light on the situation, Onanuga said Greenspan filed the FOIA requests in 2022, seeking records from several US government agencies, before commencing Civil Action No. 23-1816 in 2023.
He noted that the court subsequently permitted Tinubu to join the proceedings as an intervenor.
The presidential aide explained that the Central Intelligence Agency, Executive Office for United States Attorneys, Department of State, Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service had since been removed from the case after the court granted them summary judgment on the “Glomar defence” — a standard defence in which an agency neither confirms nor denies the existence of records.
He said the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration, however, remain in the suit and have produced 399 pages of records, some of which were redacted under exemptions provided by US law.
Onanuga, in the statement, listed the grounds for the redactions to include grand jury secrecy rules, attorney-client privilege, law enforcement sensitivity, personal privacy, and the protection of confidential informants and investigative techniques.
The statement reads in part: “Some of the documents are protected from being revealed to the public by law, for example, Grand Jury proceedings. The law exempts transcripts of Grand Jury proceedings from public disclosure. The Pen Register Act also protects from disclosure information about certain court order(s) authorising or approving the installation and use of a pen register or trap and trace device. (FOIA Exemption 3).
“Some of the documents fall squarely within the attorney-work product and attorney-client privileges. Some documents contain instances where FBI and DEA agents sought and/or received legal advice from USDoJ attorneys. (FOIA Exemption 5).
“Some of the documents were prepared for law enforcement purposes. (FOIA Exemption 5).
“Some of the documents contain information which, if revealed, could lead to an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. (FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C)).
“Some of the documents, if disclosed, will reveal the identities of confidential sources or compromise the techniques that law enforcement agencies use in investigating crimes. (FOIA Exemptions 7(D) and 7(E)).”
He said Tinubu had also invoked his privacy rights under a FOIA exemption in the case.
According to the statement, Greenspan has until September 11 to respond to the defendants’ and intervenor’s filings, while the FBI, DEA and Tinubu have until September 18 to respond further.
Onanuga also faulted recent commentary by Karl von Batten, saying neither he nor his client is a party to the suit.
“The Nigerian media should note that this case is exclusively within the control of Judge Beryl A. Howell of the United States District Court. She will determine its outcome, based on the evidence, applicable law, and the parties’ arguments, not the wishful preference of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar or his agent, Mr Von Batten,” he said.
He urged the media to distinguish “verified court proceedings from partisan speculation.”
The case stems from 12 FOIA requests filed between 2022 and 2023 by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, founder of the legal-records website PlainSite, seeking records from six US federal agencies on a Chicago heroin-trafficking investigation from the early 1990s that named Tinubu alongside three others — Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande and Abiodun Agbele.
