A US court has taken another step in the long-running Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case seeking the release of records allegedly linked to drug-trafficking allegations involving President Bola Tinubu.
A Washington-based lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., said in an update posted on X that Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, August 21, granted the FBI permission to submit the disputed documents privately to the court for an in-camera review.
The firm said the judge had directed the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of Justice (DOJ) and President Tinubu to file any opposition to the release of the records by August 28, 2026, with no extension.
It interpreted the phrase “and no later” as an indication that the court was imposing a firm deadline.
According to the firm, the FBI will now have to justify why the records should not be released, including by submitting the sensitive material privately for judicial review.
The firm further claimed that the FBI had acknowledged possessing highly sensitive information relating to allegations of drug trafficking involving Tinubu. It argued that the request for an in-camera review suggested the documents contained information the agency considered particularly sensitive.
The firm also alleged that some of the records could contain information concerning criminal informants and argued that this would conflict with previous descriptions of the case as being solely related to civil forfeiture.
However, the firm acknowledged that the court’s latest decision had not yet been published on the official docket as of Friday evening and that its account was based solely on its post on X.
