The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned that releasing sensitive records linked to Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu could endanger the lives or physical safety of individuals, adding a dramatic new dimension to the long-running legal battle over the disclosure of investigative files.
The development follows an August 28, 2026 filing in a US federal court in Washington, D.C., as the FBI continues to resist the public release of portions of records sought through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
The records relate to FBI investigations from the early 1990s and include requests for the agency’s file on Tinubu and FBI Form 302 interview records covering the 1992 to 1993 period. American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan is seeking the documents as part of his legal action against several US government agencies.
In an earlier application, the FBI argued that releasing some of the information could expose law-enforcement techniques and potentially place individuals in danger. The agency specifically relied on several FOIA exemptions, including provisions covering confidential sources, investigative methods and information whose disclosure could threaten an individual’s physical safety.
The FBI stated that disclosure “could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual,” while also telling the court that it could not publicly provide the full basis for some of its withholding decisions. The agency therefore sought permission to submit sensitive explanations privately to the judge.
Reports emerging from the latest court proceedings have described the danger more starkly, saying FBI agents and informants could face violent retaliation, including possible assassination, if sensitive records were made public. However, the detailed material supporting that concern was submitted to the court under seal and is not publicly available.
The dispute has attracted renewed attention because the records concern historical allegations of drug trafficking and a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding involving approximately $460,000. Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing connected to the allegations.
The Nigerian president has also moved to prevent the release of the records. In a 16-page filing dated August 28, his lawyers argued that disclosure would violate privacy protections and maintained that the existence of scattered public information does not eliminate an individual’s privacy interest in the contents of confidential investigative files.
The case is now before US District Judge Beryl Howell, who must determine which records, if any, can be released under FOIA and which remain protected by statutory exemptions.
For now, the sealed FBI material remains out of public view, leaving the court’s eventual ruling as the next major development in a case that continues to attract intense political and public interest in Nigeria.
