By Andrew Haruna
Washington D.C., United States – A federal judge in the United States has authorised the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to ignore requests for files on President Bola Tinubu, stating there is no proof that the agency ever collected intelligence on the Nigerian leader.
Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued the ruling on April 8, 2025, effectively shielding the CIA from further compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by American transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan and Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin.
“Given that plaintiff has failed to show that the CIA has ever officially acknowledged the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to his FOIA request, the CIA’s Glomar response must be sustained,” the judge ruled.
A Glomar response is a legal term used when federal agencies neither confirm nor deny the existence of specific documents—often invoked in matters involving national security or sensitive investigations.
The ruling offers relief for President Tinubu, who has faced ongoing legal challenges over his past in the United States. While excusing the CIA from the suit, Judge Howell directed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to revisit their archives and release any additional non-exempt documents that could serve the public interest.
“Accordingly, the FBI and DEA must search for and process non-exempt records responsive to the FOIA requests directed to these agencies,” the judge said.
Over the course of the litigation, the FBI and other U.S. agencies released a series of documents between 2023 and 2024 that showed Mr Tinubu was under investigation in the 1990s for suspected links to drug trafficking. That probe led to his forfeiture of $460,000 in 1993—a controversy that became a central theme during Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election campaign.
Judge Howell acknowledged that most of the agencies were initially reluctant to comply but eventually released documents they deemed relevant to the request. The judge further noted that if any additional information remains in the public interest, it should be released to Mr Greenspan.
It remains unclear whether the FBI still holds more records beyond those previously made public.
A spokesman for the FBI declined to respond to inquiries as of press time. The Nigerian presidency also declined to comment on the development. The court has instructed all parties to file a joint status update by May 2, 2025.
