A United States-based political advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has accused the Nigerian Presidency of presenting a misleading account of a US court ruling involving President Bola Tinubu and records of alleged drug trafficking. The firm made the allegation in a statement on its X handle, reacting to a report by Sunday Dare.
The report in question, titled “US Court Blocks Discovery Attempt Against President Tinubu in FOIA Suit,” was shared by Sunday Dare. According to Von Batten-Montague-York, the US court had blocked Aaron Greenspan’s request to serve discovery on Tinubu in a separate case involving allegations of hacking by the Nigerian Presidency and its agents.
However, the firm argued that the development was unrelated to the Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, case seeking access to records concerning Tinubu’s alleged involvement in drug trafficking. The firm stated that Dare’s account left out significant aspects of the court’s decision, which it said were unfavourable to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA.
Von Batten-Montague-York acknowledged that the US court had denied the FBI's and DEA's cross-motions for summary judgment regarding the vast majority of their withholdings. The firm also stated that the court slammed the FBI and DEA for using ‘boilerplate’ and ‘imprecise’ excuses to hide information regarding Tinubu and his alleged drug trafficking associate, Agbele.
The court firmly ruled that because a detailed DOJ asset-forfeiture affidavit from 1993, mapping out the drug-trafficking and money-laundering investigation into Tinubu, is already part of the public record, the FBI and DEA cannot use broad privacy or secrecy exemptions to keep that identical information redacted. The court ordered the FBI and DEA to review the files against the public record and provide detailed justifications for why any portions of these files should remain secret by November 27, 2026.
The DEA had tried to withhold pages using generic, single-sentence explanations regarding wiretaps and pen registers, but the judge rejected these explanations, stating that the DEA had completely failed to meet its legal burden. Von Batten-Montague-York described the court's decision as a massive blow to President Tinubu and accused the Tinubu presidency of trying to hide behind the judge's denial of Aaron Greenspan's request to question Tinubu in a matter unrelated to the FOIA case.
The firm concluded by warning that the Tinubu presidency cannot be trusted, as they lie both directly and by omission. The development is likely to raise concerns about transparency and accountability in the Tinubu administration, particularly with regards to allegations of drug trafficking and corruption.
Key points
- The US court ruling did not block the FOIA case seeking access to records on Tinubu's alleged drug trafficking.
- The court criticized the FBI and DEA for using 'boilerplate' and 'imprecise' excuses to hide information on Tinubu.
- The court ordered the FBI and DEA to provide detailed justifications for withholding information by November 27, 2026.
