FBI CONFIRMS TINUBU WAS INVESTIGATED OVER ALLEGED DRUG TRAFFICKING IN 1990S

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By: Fasasi Hammad

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the subject of an investigation into alleged drug-trafficking activities in the early 1990s.

The confirmation was contained in a sworn declaration filed by the FBI on August 28, 2026, before the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

The filing was made in connection with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking access to FBI records relating to Tinubu.

In the declaration, the FBI stated that the records requested were compiled as part of its investigation into several individuals suspected of drug-trafficking offences.

The agency further noted that the court had already established that the FBI had officially acknowledged an investigation involving Tinubu.

The latest filing followed an April 2025 ruling by US District Judge Beryl Howell, who held that the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration could no longer rely on so-called “Glomar” responses to refuse to confirm or deny the existence of records concerning Tinubu.

Howell ruled that the agencies had failed to provide adequate privacy grounds for withholding confirmation that Tinubu had been investigated.

The judge subsequently directed the agencies to process the records requested under FOIA, subject to applicable legal exemptions.

However, the ruling did not establish that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence, nor did it find him guilty or convict him of any crime.

The FOIA requests were filed by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who sought the complete FBI file on Tinubu, as well as FBI Form 302 interview records involving him in FBI Case No. 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU between 1992 and 1993.

The requests formed part of a broader effort to obtain records relating to a Chicago-based heroin-trafficking investigation conducted in the early 1990s.

Despite the court ruling, the FBI has continued to withhold portions of the records, citing exemptions related to personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement techniques and information that could potentially endanger individuals.

The agency said it could not publicly disclose the full details supporting some of the exemptions applied to the records.