Why FBI Seeks Secret Court Filing Over Withheld Records Linked to Tinubu

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has asked a federal court in Washington, D.C., for permission to privately explain why it is withholding some records sought in connection with past investigations involving President Bola Tinubu.

In a court application dated August 20, the FBI said it needed to submit an ex parte, in camera declarationto explain confidentially the basis for withholding certain information from records requested under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The agency said publicly disclosing the full reasons could reveal law-enforcement investigative techniques or potentially endanger the life or physical safety of an individual.

The records at issue include an FBI file requested by American businessman Aaron Greenspan, as well as FBI interview records relating to Tinubu from 1992 to 1993.

According to the FBI, the requests were assigned numbers 1588244-000 and 1593615-000. The agency said it had relied on several FOIA exemptions, including provisions covering personal privacy, confidential sources, investigative techniques and information that could pose a threat to an individual’s safety.

“The FBI has determined that it cannot provide on the public record the full basis” for applying some of the exemptions, the agency said in its filing.

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If the court approves the request, the FBI said it would submit the confidential declaration by August 28.

The development forms part of a long-running FOIA legal battle initiated by Greenspan, who sought records from several US agencies concerning investigations into a Chicago heroin operation in the early 1990s.

Greenspan sued after federal agencies initially refused to confirm or deny whether records concerning Tinubu and other individuals existed.

In April 2025, US District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration had improperly used the so-called Glomar response to refuse to confirm or deny the existence of the requested records.

Howell ordered the agencies to lift those responses, paving the way for further proceedings over the disclosure of the records.

The latest FBI application now places the dispute before the court again, with the bureau seeking to make part of its explanation to the judge behind closed doors rather than on the public record.

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