President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally joined a request by the United States Department of Justice for additional time in a long-running Freedom of Information Act lawsuit involving records concerning him, according to a Washington-based lobbying firm retained by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Von Batten-Montague-York disclosed the development in posts on X, saying it had obtained a copy of a filing submitted by Tinubu two business days earlier.
The firm said Tinubu had formally joined the Department of Justice’s request for a 10-day extension.
“We just received a copy of President Bola Tinubu’s filing from just two business days ago,” the firm said, adding that Tinubu had “formally joined” the Department of Justice’s request for a 10-day extension.
US District Judge Beryl A. Howell subsequently rejected the full extension request and set August 21, 2026, as the deadline for the government and Tinubu to respond.
The lawsuit was instituted by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who is seeking records held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and other US agencies concerning past investigations involving Tinubu.
The records relate to allegations surrounding a 1990s civil forfeiture case linked to claims of heroin trafficking.
Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing and has not been convicted of drug trafficking in the United States.
In earlier proceedings, Judge Howell ordered the FBI and DEA to process non-exempt records after rejecting the agencies’ responses that neither confirmed nor denied the existence of the records.
The agencies subsequently sought additional time, prompting criticism from the court over delays in the case.
Von Batten-Montague-York said it was “not surprising” that Tinubu had joined the government’s request for additional time.
The firm further suggested that Tinubu could use any delay to lobby contacts in Washington, arguing that releasing the records could harm US-Nigeria relations.
It presented this as its own inference and offered no evidence that this was the reason for the filing.
With the extension only partially granted, August 21 remains the deadline set by Judge Howell for the government and Tinubu to comply with the court’s latest directive.
(The Whistler)