The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has asked a federal court for permission to privately explain why it withheld some records linked to investigations involving President Bola Tinubu.
The request was contained in an application filed on August 20 before the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
The records are being sought in connection with allegations of drug trafficking involving Tinubu. However, the President has not been found guilty of drug trafficking in relation to the records mentioned in the case.
The FBI wants the court to allow it to submit an ex parte in camera declaration. This means the agency would privately provide the judge with an explanation that would not be made public.
The agency said it could not publicly disclose all the reasons for withholding parts of the records.
The application was shared on 𝕏 by Von Batten-Montague-York, a Washington-based lobbying firm recently engaged by former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2027 election.
The FBI said it relied on several exemptions under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) when responding to requests for records relating to Tinubu.
The agency said one of the requests sought the entire FBI file on Tinubu, while another requested FBI 302 interview records involving him from 1992 to 1993.
The FBI said it applied FOIA exemptions 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E) and 7(F) to the requests.
According to the agency, releasing some of the withheld information could reveal law enforcement investigation techniques and procedures or “could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.”
The FBI said it could not publicly provide the full reasons for applying exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) to some of the withheld information.
It therefore asked the court to allow it to submit the explanation privately and under seal.
The agency said that if the court approves the request, it would provide the private explanation before August 28.
The plaintiff in the case is Aaron Greenspan, an American businessman and founder of PlainSite.
