The Presidency has reacted to the ruling by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, which ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to release records relating to Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, saying there was nothing new to be revealed to the public.
Special Adviser to the President (Information and Strategy), Bayo Onanuga, who took to his Facebook page on Sunday evening to respond to media enquiries about the development, however added that lawyers were examining the US court ruling.
Onanuga wrote: “Journalists have sought the Presidency’s reaction to the ruling last Tuesday by a Washington DC judge ordering the US FBI and DEA to release reports connected with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Our response is as follows:
“There is nothing new to be revealed. The report by Agent Moss of the FBI and the DEA report have been in the public space for more than 30 years. The reports did not indict the Nigerian leader. The lawyers are examining the ruling.”
Also, President Tinubu’s US-based lawyers – Babatunde Ogala, SAN and Attorney Afolabi – corroborated the presidential media aide, saying: “The President has travelled to the United States of America several times since 1994 and he has been granted the rights of ingress and egress into the Country.
“There’s nothing new in this case that has not already been put in the public domain.”
A source close to the presidency who requested not to be named said: “We know that they have started the 2027 campaign. It’s the same old, worn-out campaign of calumny that failed in 2023 that they have dusted up again. But it will fail.”
LEADERSHIP reports that the order was issued earlier on Tuesday by Judge Beryl Howell in response to a motion filed by American transparency advocate, Aaron Greenspan, who accused the US agencies of violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by failing to release documents connected to alleged federal investigations involving President Tinubu and one Abiodun Agbele.
