Lagos, Oct. 24, 2023 – Temporary relief came the way of President Bola Tinubu on Monday when a U.S. District Court in Columbia declined an emergency application to compel US law enforcement agencies to hasten the release of confidential information on him.
The judge, Beryl Howell, refused the application on Monday.
The application was filed by Aaron Greenspan, an American lawyer, in June.
Greenspan had filed the suit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) against the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue service, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Greenspan had accused the law enforcement agencies of violating the FIOA by failing to release within the statutory time “documents relating to purported federal investigations into” President Tinubu and one Mueez Adegboyega Akande, who is now deceased.
According to Greenspan, the records being requested were from the Northern District of Illinois and/or Northern District of Indiana “involving charging decisions” against Messrs Tinubu and Akande.
Tinubu was alleged to have forfeited $460,000 to the U.S. government after he was linked the funds to proceeds of narcotics trafficking in 1993.
Howell, in her judgement on Monday, disallowed the release of the sought information, saying that Greenspan had not adequately justified his request for an urgent hearing on his motion for expedited release of records, especially against the need to protect Tinubu’s interest.
“Plaintiff has not made any representation to the court that the balance of equities tips in his favour or that the granting of his motion would further the public interest.
“Given that the FOIA request is for records that, if any exist, 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, the balance of equities militates strongly in favour of denying this emergency motion.” (GBN)
