The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has asked a federal court in Washington, DC, for permission to submit a confidential declaration explaining why it is withholding some records connected to allegations involving President Bola Tinubu.

The request was contained in an application dated August 20 and filed before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

The FBI said it could not publicly disclose the full reasons for withholding certain information and asked the court to allow it to submit an ex parte, in camera declaration under seal.

An ex parte, in camera submission is a confidential filing presented privately to a judge and not made available on the public court record.

The application was published on X on Thursday by Von Batten-Montague-York, a Washington-based lobbying firm recently engaged by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.

FBI cites FOIA exemptions

The FBI said it had invoked several exemptions under the US Freedom of Information Act in response to requests for records relating to Tinubu from 1992 and 1993.

According to the agency, releasing some of the withheld information could disclose law-enforcement techniques and procedures or potentially endanger the life or physical safety of an individual.

The FBI identified two FOIA requests involved in the case.

One request sought the FBI file relating to Tinubu, while another sought FBI interview records involving him from a case covering the 1992–1993 period.

The agency said it had applied FOIA Exemptions 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E) and 7(F) to the requests.

The FBI said it could not disclose publicly the full basis for relying on Exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) for some of the withheld information, making a confidential declaration necessary.

If the court grants the application, the FBI said it would submit the declaration before August 28.

Case involves FOIA requests

The plaintiff in the case is Aaron Greenspan, an American businessman and founder of PlainSite.

Between 2022 and 2023, Greenspan filed 12 FOIA requests with six US federal agencies seeking records relating to investigations into a Chicago heroin ring that operated in the early 1990s.

He sought records concerning four individuals whom he claimed were connected to the investigation, including Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Adegboyega Akande and Abiodun Agbele.

Several agencies initially responded that they could neither confirm nor deny whether the requested records existed.

Such a response is known as a Glomar response, an official refusal by a government agency to confirm or deny the existence of requested records.

After the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy upheld the agencies’ responses, Greenspan filed a lawsuit challenging them in June 2023.

The FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Executive Office for United States Attorneys and Department of State were initially named as defendants. The CIA was later added to the case.

Judge previously rejected FBI and DEA secrecy

In April 2025, Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the Glomar responses issued by the FBI and DEA were improper and had to be lifted.

Howell held that the agencies had not established sufficient privacy interests to justify withholding confirmation of whether Tinubu had been the subject of a criminal investigation.

The judge also found that the FBI and DEA had failed to provide adequate evidence to support their continued use of the Glomar responses.

The latest application, however, concerns the FBI's withholding of specific information and its request to explain privately to the court why certain FOIA exemptions apply.

The development follows a separate request by the US Department of Justice for additional time to respond to a court order concerning the release of records linked to the allegations.

Judge Howell granted the DOJ only a four-day extension, moving the deadline to August 21, despite a request for an additional 10 days. Tinubu's legal team subsequently joined the extension request, which the judge also declined.