Tinubu, US DOJ seek 10-day delay in release of drug investigation records

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has now officially joined the DOJ in its application for a 10-day extension to reply to a motion for summary judgment in a legal dispute regarding the release of documents pertaining to drug trafficking allegations.

The Notice of Joiner was filed by the lawyers of President Tinubu at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and posted online by Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., an American policy advisory and lobbying company that works for the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

In the filing, Tinubu’s lawyers said he was joining the defendants’ request for an extension to ensure that his response remained on the same schedule as that of the other defendants.

“Intervenor joins Defendants’ motion for a 10-day extension of time to file response to the motion for summary judgment (DE 92), in as much as Intervenor requests that the responses remain on the same schedule,” the notice stated.

The document was signed by Christopher W. Carmichael and Victor P. Henderson of Henderson Parks, LLC.

According to the filing, the plaintiff opposed the request, while the defendant did not.

However, Von Batten-Montague-York subsequently reported that U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell denied the request for an extension.

Lobbying Firm Alleges Political Pressure

Following the development, Von Batten-Montague-York alleged in a post on X that Tinubu was seeking to use the delay to exert political influence in Washington. Politics

The firm claimed that the President could use the additional time to lobby U.S. officials over the potential release of the records.

It alleged that Tinubu could ask his “friends in DC” to argue that releasing the files would damage U.S.-Nigeria relations and affect cooperation between both countries on security matters.

The lobbying firm also called for scrutiny of any U.S. officials who, it alleged, might attempt to interfere with the judicial or Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process on Tinubu’s behalf.

These allegations by the lobbying firm have not been independently established in the information provided.

Background to the Case

The matter, Aaron Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, et al., Civil Action No. 23-1816 (BAH), concerns a request for the release of records connected to past U.S. investigations involving Tinubu.

The case has been ongoing for more than three years, with the requested records linked to allegations concerning Tinubu and drug-trafficking investigations in the United States.

Previous reports have referenced U.S. court documents relating to the forfeiture of $460,000 associated with accounts connected to Tinubu in the early 1990s.

According to those records, U.S. authorities investigated a Chicago-based narcotics trafficking operation involving heroin trafficking between 1988 and 1991.

A 1993 U.S. District Court order directed the forfeiture of $460,000 held in an account bearing Tinubu’s name.

Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing and rejected allegations that he was involved in drug trafficking.

His lawyers have also maintained that the forfeiture proceeding was a civil in rem case involving the money rather than a criminal prosecution against Tinubu personally.

They have argued that Tinubu was never arrested, indicted, arraigned or convicted of a drug-related offence in the United States.

The latest filing therefore concerns the timing of responses in the records-release litigation, rather than a new criminal charge against the Nigerian President.