US agencies set to release files on alleged Tinubu drug probe by May 2

Multiple U.S. government agencies are expected to release long-requested documents on Friday, May 2, relating to a decades-old drug investigation that allegedly involved Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The anticipated disclosures follow a ruling from Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who ordered the agencies to submit a joint status report and release the documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed by transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan in June 2023, demanded records from six federal bodies: the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Department of State, the FBI, the IRS, the DEA, and the CIA, though the CIA is exempt from disclosure in this instance.

In a strongly worded opinion, Judge Howell rejected the agencies’ continued resistance to the FOIA requests.

“The government’s position that these records must remain sealed is neither logical nor plausible,” she stated.

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Greenspan’s requests, submitted between 2022 and 2023, sought details from a joint federal investigation reportedly involving Tinubu and three others—Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele—allegedly tied to a drug trafficking network.

While the nature and content of the documents remain unclear ahead of their release, Howell’s ruling is being seen as a significant win for government transparency.

In response, Nigeria’s presidency downplayed the relevance of the upcoming disclosure.

Officials insisted that the documents contain nothing “new or incriminating” and accused critics of attempting to revive an old controversy for political purposes.

The developments are likely to renew scrutiny of longstanding allegations that have followed President Tinubu for years, despite no criminal convictions ever resulting from past investigations.