U.S agencies seek 90-day extension in FOIA case involving Tinubu

In a legal development drawing renewed attention to decades-old allegations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have jointly requested a 90-day extension from a United States District Court to produce documents related to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request involving Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The agencies filed the request on Thursday before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, citing ongoing searches for non-exempt and releasable documents. The case, which is being heard by Judge Beryl Howell, arises from FOIA applications submitted by American legal activist and transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan, founder of the website PlainSite.

Greenspan’s request centers on records linked to a drug trafficking investigation in Chicago in the early 1990s. President Tinubu, who has long denied any wrongdoing, was named in Greenspan’s filings alongside three other individuals: Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele.

In a joint status report submitted to the court, the FBI and DEA stated that they had already begun searching for “responsive, non-exempt, reasonably segregable portions of records” tied to Greenspan’s request. However, they indicated that completing the process would require three additional months.

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This request comes despite a court mandate issued in early April that required both agencies to provide a status update on document production by May 2. The FOIA request references four case files (FBI Nos. 1588244-000 and 1593615-000; DEA Nos. 22-00892-F and 24-00201-F) and demands the release of documents previously withheld under so-called “Glomar responses,” in which agencies neither confirm nor deny the existence of relevant materials.

Greenspan, in a strongly worded rebuttal, accused the agencies of deliberately stalling the process. He urged the court to compel the release of documents within days—not months.

“Given the years-long delay already caused by the defendants and the fact that many responsive documents have already been identified,” Greenspan wrote, “the plaintiff proposes that the FBI and DEA complete their searches and productions by next week.”

He also asked that unredacted versions of already-located documents be released immediately, and insisted that the final batch of documents be submitted no later than two weeks from now. Greenspan is seeking reimbursement for $440.22 in filing and mailing costs, and maintains that the agencies have failed to justify the delay.

The government agencies, meanwhile, have proposed that the next joint status update be filed by July 31, while Greenspan is pushing for a tighter deadline of May 31.

The case remains a focal point for advocates of government transparency, particularly given the political sensitivities surrounding a sitting foreign president. Though no criminal charges have been filed against Tinubu in connection with the documents, public scrutiny over the past continues to shadow his political narrative.

A final decision on the extension request is pending before Judge Howell.

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