The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has asked a US court to allow it to withhold some records linked to an old investigation involving President Bola Tinubu, citing concerns over sensitive law-enforcement methods and the safety of individuals.
The FBI made the request in a motion filed on August 20 at the US District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking permission to provide the court with additional details privately to justify its decision to withhold portions of the records.
The agency wants to submit the explanation ex parte and in camera, meaning the information would be presented directly to the judge and kept outside the public court record.
According to the FBI, publicly explaining the basis for withholding the records could defeat the purpose of the exemptions it is relying on.
The bureau said some of the withheld information could reveal investigative techniques and procedures used by law-enforcement agencies, while other details could potentially expose individuals to threats to their physical safety.
The case stems from Freedom of Information Act requests seeking FBI records connected to Tinubu, including the bureau’s records concerning the Nigerian President and interview reports, known as Form 302s, relating to an FBI investigation from 1992 and 1993.
The FBI said it had invoked several exemptions under the FOIA law to withhold parts of the records. The exemptions cover issues including personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement techniques and information that could endanger individuals.
The agency told the court that its public filings could not fully explain why it was relying on exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) without potentially disclosing the very information it seeks to protect.
It therefore wants to file a sealed declaration containing the additional justification for the judge’s private review. If granted, the FBI said it would submit the confidential declaration by August 28.
The legal battle was initiated by Aaron Greenspan, founder of PlainSite, who has sought government documents relating to a Chicago-based heroin trafficking investigation dating back to the early 1990s.
Between 2022 and 2023, Greenspan submitted 12 FOIA requests to six federal agencies, seeking records involving four individuals, including Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande and Abiodun Agbele.
Several agencies initially declined to confirm whether they had records responsive to the requests, a position known as a “Glomar response” under US law.
Greenspan challenged the decisions and subsequently went to court after the Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy upheld the agencies’ positions.
In April 2025, US District Judge Beryl Howell ruled against the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration’s continued reliance on the Glomar response, holding that the agencies had not provided sufficient legal grounds to conceal whether records concerning Tinubu existed.
The latest FBI application comes amid an ongoing dispute over the release of the documents.
The Justice Department had sought a 10-day extension to respond to a court order, but Judge Howell granted only four additional days, setting August 21 as the deadline.
Tinubu’s lawyers subsequently joined the Justice Department’s request for more time, but the judge reportedly rejected the longer extension.
The FBI is now seeking to privately present its fuller justification for withholding parts of the records, particularly information it says could expose sensitive investigative methods or put individuals at risk.
