Tinubu not facing criminal case in US over FOIA records, says Presidency

The Presidency has dismissed reports suggesting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is facing a criminal case in the United States, saying the ongoing proceedings before a US federal court concern only the disclosure of government records.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the clarification in a statement on Thursday concerning the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Onanuga said the case, filed by Aaron Greenspan, was a civil records-disclosure dispute and “is not a criminal case against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, nor has the court found him guilty of any criminal wrongdoing.”

According to him, Greenspan submitted FOIA requests to several US government agencies in 2022, seeking records relating to Tinubu.

The agencies either withheld some records or declined to confirm or deny their existence, leading Greenspan to institute Civil Action No. 23-1816 before the US District Court in 2023.

The court subsequently allowed Tinubu to participate in the proceedings as an intervenor.

The Presidency said the defendants invoked what is known as the “Glomar defence”, a legal position under US law that allows government agencies to decline to confirm or deny the existence of certain records.

“It simply means the government agency is not ‘in a position to deny or admit’ the existence of an investigation,” Onanuga said.

He said the defence was invoked to protect government personnel, investigative sources and law enforcement techniques.

Following the invocation, the court granted summary judgment in favour of the CIA, Executive Office for US Attorneys, Department of State, Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service.