Tinubu joins US request for more time to release records on drug trafficking allegations

President Bola Tinubu has aligned himself with a request from the U.S. Department of Justice for an additional 10 days to respond to a court order concerning the release of records linked to alleged drug trafficking. The lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, representing former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, announced that the U.S. Justice Department had initiated court action seeking the extension.

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Intervenor joins Defendants’ motion for a 10-day extension of time to file response to the motion for summary judgment (DE 92), in as much as Intervenor requests that the responses remain on the same schedule.

However, the U.S. District Court in Columbia denied the full request, granting the department only four extra days and mandating the release of records by August 21. Shortly after, the lobbying group revealed that President Tinubu's legal team had also joined the Justice Department in seeking more time. A notice filed with the court indicated Tinubu's legal team sought to synchronize their response schedule with the defendants'.

The lobbying firm criticized Tinubu's request as a tactic to exert political influence in Washington, suggesting he aimed to leverage any delay to argue that releasing the files would damage U.S.-Nigeria relations and hinder cooperation on combating terrorism and violence against Christians in northern Nigeria. The firm called for exposure and dismissal of any U.S. government personnel who might interfere with the judicial process on Tinubu's behalf.

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wanted to use any delay to call upon his friends in DC to argue that the release of these files would harm US-Nigeria relations and undermine his ability to work with the US to combat “terrorism and the killing of Christians in Northern Nigeria.”

The case stems from a district court order in April 2025 compelling U.S. law enforcement agencies to release confidential information regarding Tinubu's alleged involvement in drug trafficking during a purported federal investigation in the 1990s. This investigation previously led to Tinubu forfeiting funds to the U.S. government in a civil case. The order followed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit filed by Aaron Greenspan seeking information about a joint investigation into a Chicago heroin ring.

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We believe that any U.S. government personnel who improperly attempt to interfere with the judicial or FOIA process on behalf of #Nigerian President #Tinubu to prevent the lawful release of these records should be exposed and fired.