A U.S. federal judge has ruled that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) can lawfully refuse to release any files on Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, stating there’s no proof the agency ever gathered intelligence on him.
In a decision delivered on April 8, 2025, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. upheld the CIA’s “Glomar response” — a legal stance allowing the agency to neither confirm nor deny the existence of records in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
The case was filed by U.S. transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan, in collaboration with Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin, seeking access to documents related to Tinubu’s past, including his alleged ties to narcotics tr+fficking in the 1990s.
Judge Howell said the plaintiffs failed to show that the CIA had ever acknowledged holding any records on Tinubu. As a result, she ruled that the agency should be dismissed from the case.
However, the judge ordered the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to continue searching their archives for any remaining non-exempt records related to Tinubu that could be in the public interest. Both agencies had previously released documents in 2023 and 2024 showing that Tinubu was investigated in connection with dr¥g tr+fficking in the early 1990s — an investigation that led to the forfeiture of $460,000 in a Chicago court in 1993.
That case, though decades old, became a major point of controversy during Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, with critics questioning Tinubu’s fitness for office. Tinubu has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Judge Howell noted that while the FBI and DEA were initially hesitant, they eventually complied with FOIA requirements. She also directed them to provide a joint update to the court by May 2, 2025.
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