United States District Judge Beryl A. Howell has set August 21, 2026, as the deadline for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the U.S. Department of Justice to respond in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit concerning historical federal law-enforcement records.
The deadline followed a request by the Justice Department for a 10-day extension to respond to earlier court directives concerning the processing and possible disclosure of records. Tinubu, who intervened in the case to protect his privacy interests, formally joined the government’s request.
Judge Howell declined to grant the full 10 days and instead allowed a shorter extension, requiring the parties to file their responses by Friday, August 21. The deadline concerns legal submissions over the processing and disclosure of records and should not be interpreted as an order requiring all requested documents to be publicly released by that date.
The latest development was disclosed by Washington-based lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, which said it had obtained a copy of Tinubu’s filing. The firm is retained by former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar
The case, Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys et al., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by American transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan, founder of PlainSite. Greenspan submitted FOIA requests seeking records concerning Tinubu from several federal agencies.
The defendants have included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Department of State, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and other federal bodies. The lawsuit remains a civil proceeding focused on whether the agencies have complied with their obligations under the United States Freedom of Information Act.
Greenspan’s requests relate partly to federal investigations dating to the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as a 1993 civil asset-forfeiture proceeding in which approximately $460,000 linked to accounts bearing Tinubu’s name was surrendered to the United States government.
In April 2025, Judge Howell ruled that the FBI and DEA could no longer rely entirely on “Glomar responses,” through which agencies refuse to confirm or deny that requested records exist. The judge concluded that previous official acknowledgements had made continued blanket reliance on that position unjustifiable and directed the agencies to search for and process responsive, non-exempt records.
That ruling did not establish criminal liability or determine that Tinubu committed a criminal offence. FOIA proceedings generally determine whether government records must be searched for, processed and disclosed, subject to statutory exemptions protecting privacy, law-enforcement methods and other legally protected information.
Tinubu has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has maintained that he was never charged with or convicted of a criminal offence in the United States. The 1993 matter was resolved through civil forfeiture proceedings without a criminal conviction against him.
The next stage will depend on the filings submitted by Tinubu and the Justice Department by August 21. Judge Howell may then determine the scope, timing, and conditions under which any non-exempt records must be processed or released.
