US court declines request on release of Tinubu’s personal records by FBI, CIA

The US court for the district of Columbia has rejected an emergency request on the release of the confidential information of President Bola Tinubu.

The application by Aaron Greenspan, an American, sought to compel top US law enforcement agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to hasten the release of Tinubu’s dossier.

Declining the request, Beryl Howell, the district judge, said Greenspan did not meet the preconditions for granting a request of that nature.

“Plaintiff has failed even to attempt to argue how his request may overcome those exemptions and achieve a likelihood of success on the merits,” Howell said.

“This failure to address this important factor in his Emergency Motion weighs strongly in favour of denying his motion.

“Plaintiff falls far short of satisfying this standard. He has not supplied the court with any indication of a concrete, actual threat that he will suffer in the absence of an injunction.

“While his Emergency Motion states that a Nigerian Supreme Court hearing is scheduled to occur in the coming days, plaintiff cites no injury he will suffer that is in any way traceable to the relief requested in this motion.”

The judge added that the request “may be of a highly sensitive and private nature” and that “the subject of those documents, Bola A. Tinubu, has had no opportunity to protect his privacy interests in any such records”.

“For the foregoing reasons, it is hereby ORDERED that plaintiff’s Emergency Motion for a Hearing to Compel Immediate Document Production, ECF No. 17 is DENIED. SO ORDERED,” the judge said.

Greenspan had accused the law enforcement agencies of violating the freedom of information act by not releasing the confidential information within the stipulated time.

He said the documents related to “purported federal investigations into President Tinubu and one Mueez Adegboyega Akande, who is now deceased”.

Nigeria’s supreme court began hearing the appeals challenging the electoral victory of Tinubu on October 23.

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last elections, and Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the poll, had rejected the outcome of the election and the verdict of the petitions tribunal upholding Tinubu’s victory.

On Monday, the apex court reserved judgment on the appeals.