The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the subject of a criminal investigation into drug-trafficking crimes in the early 1990s.

This is according to a sworn declaration filed in a US federal court.

‎The declaration was submitted on August 28, 2026, before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia as part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case seeking access to FBI records relating to Tinubu.

‎In the filing, the FBI stated that “the responsive records herein were compiled in furtherance of the FBI’s investigation of multiple individuals for drug trafficking crimes.”

‎The agency also stated that “the court has already determined that an official acknowledgement had been made of an investigation of Bola Tinubu.”

‎The declaration followed an April 2025 ruling by US District Judge Beryl Howell, who held that the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) could no longer rely on “Glomar” responses to refuse to confirm or deny the existence of records relating to the investigation.

‎Howell ruled that the agencies had failed to establish sufficient privacy grounds to conceal the fact that Tinubu had been the subject of a criminal investigation.

‎She ordered the agencies to process non-exempt records sought under FOIA.

‎The ruling, however, did not establish that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence or that he was convicted of any crime.

‎The latest declaration relates to FOIA requests filed by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan.

‎Among the records sought were the “entire FBI file for Bola Ahmed Tinubu” and FBI 302 interview records involving Tinubu from FBI Case No. 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU between 1992 and 1993.

‎Greenspan’s requests formed part of a broader effort to obtain records concerning a Chicago heroin-trafficking operation that operated in the early 1990s.

‎The FBI has continued to withhold portions of the records, citing several FOIA exemptions covering personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement techniques and information whose disclosure could endanger individuals.

‎The agency said it could not publicly disclose the full basis for its reliance on some of the exemptions.

‎Von Batten-Montague-York, a Washington-based lobbying firm hired by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2027 presidential election, publicised portions of the FBI declaration.

‎The firm in a post on its X handle said it was reviewing a large volume of records received from the FBI and redacting portions where necessary.

‎“The FBI states under oath that the court has already determined that a criminal investigation of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu was officially acknowledged,” the firm said.

‎The firm said it released the document to counter claims that Tinubu had never been criminally investigated.

‎“We are posting this document to counter the claim made yesterday that President Tinubu was never criminally investigated and is simply following the law to protect his privacy,” it said.

“That claim is false, as shown by the FBI’s sworn declaration below.”

Reacting to the development, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, dismissed the claims surrounding the FBI records as politically motivated and accused Atiku of using a Washington-based lobbying firm to create controversy ahead of the 2027 election.

Dare described the campaign as “a clinical demonstration of desperation” and said the materials being circulated did not constitute an intelligence breakthrough.

‎“The coordinated media blitz orchestrated around a Washington, D.C. advisory firm is not an intelligence breakthrough; it is a clinical demonstration of desperation,” Dare said.

He questioned the credibility of the lobbying firm’s representations, arguing that its statements should not be presented as the position of the US government.

‎“The incendiary press releases being carefully churned out from Washington are public relations propaganda sheets passed off as the view of the U.S. Government. They are not,” he said.

‎Dare also challenged those making allegations to produce evidence supporting claims about classified intelligence.

‎“Sane minds must categorically dismiss these reports as fabricated, politically motivated, and entirely unsupported by evidence,” he said.

‎“We demand that they produce the so-called ‘highly classified intelligence report,’ identify their unnamed sources, and provide tangible evidence for their wild allegations.”

‎He alleged that publicly available US Department of Justice Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings showed that Atiku contracted Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. on a $1.2 million, 12-month retainer.

‎According to Dare, the arrangement was designed to “counterbalance” Nigerian government narratives and use historical US judicial records for political leverage ahead of the 2027 elections.

‎Dare also questioned the role of the firm’s principal, Dr Karl-Marx Edward Okeke-Von Batten, in the ongoing FOIA litigation.

‎“Okeke-Von Batten must have conned a desperate Alhaji Abubakar Atiku into believing that he has access to everyone in the Trump administration, including President Trump himself,” Dare alleged.

‎He argued that the lobbying firm had no role in the US court proceedings, which he said had been ongoing since 2023.

‎“He has absolute zero to do with what is playing out in the U.S. court system,” Dare said.

‎“The case has been active since 2023, and the FBI’s main concern is simply the protection of the techniques by which it gathers information and the safety of its sources.”

‎Dare also rejected any connection between Tinubu’s foreign travel and the FOIA proceedings, saying the President was on a previously scheduled annual leave.

‎“This orchestrated distraction attempts to tie the President’s movements to foreign legal proceedings, but the facts are clear: President Tinubu is on a previously scheduled annual leave, and there is absolutely no connection between the President’s European trip and the ongoing U.S. FOIA proceedings,” he said.

‎Dare further cited comments by Tinubu’s lawyer, Wole Afolabi, SAN, who recently addressed the FOIA proceedings on Channels Television.

‎According to him, Afolabi explained that efforts to withhold portions of the records were based on US legal provisions protecting confidential investigative processes.

‎Dare said Afolabi also argued that if Tinubu had been criminally liable under US law, American authorities would have indicted and prosecuted him at the time.

‎“He emphasized the core reality: if the president had been criminally liable under U.S. law during past investigations, American authorities would have indicted and prosecuted him at the time,” Dare said.

‎Dare accused the opposition of focusing on decades-old US records instead of presenting Nigerians with detailed policy alternatives ahead of the 2027 elections.

‎“The opposition’s 2027 framework remains devoid of noble economic blueprints, structural innovation, or issue-based engagement,” he said.

‎He argued that the election should ultimately be decided by domestic performance and policy proposals rather than controversies surrounding historical US records.

‎“True democratic validation is earned through the ballot box and tangible service delivery to the citizens at home, not through manufactured headlines bought and paid for in foreign currency,” Dare said.

‎Tinubu’s legal team has opposed further disclosure of the records, arguing that releasing personal information from government archives would violate his privacy rights. (Daily Trust)