The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has asked a federal court to allow it to privately explain why it is withholding parts of records linked to a historical investigation involving President Bola Tinubu.
In a motion filed on August 20, the FBI asked the US District Court for the District of Columbia to allow it to submit a confidential declaration ex parte and in camera—meaning the information would be presented privately to the judge and kept from the public.
The agency said publicly explaining the full basis for withholding some of the records could itself reveal the sensitive information it is trying to protect.
According to the filing, the FBI is relying on several exemptions under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), including provisions covering personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement techniques, and information that could reasonably be expected to endanger an individual’s life or physical safety.
The records are being sought by Aaron Greenspan, founder of PlainSite, who filed FOIA requests for the FBI’s file on Tinubu and for FBI Form 302 interview records relating to a case from 1992 to 1993.
The dispute is part of a wider FOIA lawsuit involving records from US investigations dating to the late 1980s and early 1990s. In April 2025, Judge Beryl Howell rejected the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration’s continued use of a “Glomar” response, which allowed the agencies to neither confirm nor deny whether records concerning Tinubu existed. She ordered the agencies to search for and produce non-exempt records.
The FBI now argues that its public filings do not fully explain why exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) apply. It wants to provide the judge with the additional justification privately and under seal.
If the court approves the request, the FBI said it plans to submit the confidential declaration by August 28. The latest filing is opposed by Greenspan, according to the FBI.
The case has attracted renewed attention after a Washington-based lobbying firm retained by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar publicized recent filings in the dispute. Tinubu has denied wrongdoing and has not been convicted of drug trafficking in the United States.
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