The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have jointly requested a 90-day extension from a U.S.
District Court to complete the release of documents tied to a decades-old drug investigation allegedly involving Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The request, submitted on Thursday, was detailed in a joint status report filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The case is part of an ongoing legal battle initiated by Aaron Greenspan, a U.S.-based legal transparency advocate and founder of the platform PlainSite, who filed several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests between 2022 and 2023.
At the heart of Greenspan’s inquiry are documents related to a Chicago-based drug trafficking operation from the 1990s. Tinubu, alongside three others—Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele—is named in the FOIA requests. The case has drawn global attention due to Tinubu’s current role as Nigeria’s head of state.
Presiding Judge Beryl Howell had previously directed both agencies to provide a status update on the search for and release of non-exempt documents by May 2, 2025.
However, in the latest filing, the FBI and DEA stated they required additional time to finish their searches and segregate non-exempt records.
“The FBI and DEA have initiated their searches for responsive, non-exempt, reasonably segregable portions of records requested by the plaintiff and anticipate completing their searches in ninety days,” the report stated.
Greenspan has strongly opposed the proposed delay, citing years of previous postponements and arguing that some responsive documents have already been identified.
In his response, he urged the court to impose a shorter timeline, requesting that the agencies produce the already-located unredacted documents by next week and deliver the rest within 14 days.
“The defendants provide no rationale for why their search should take 90 days,” Greenspan argued, emphasizing the undue delay and lack of transparency.
Initially, both agencies issued “Glomar responses”—a legal refusal to confirm or deny the existence of the documents.
However, the court later ruled such responses inappropriate and directed the agencies to proceed with full or partial disclosures where necessary.
Beyond the document release, Greenspan is also seeking reimbursement of $440.22 in legal expenses, which includes the court filing fee of $402.00 and certified mail postage of $38.22.
A dispute also remains over the timeline for the next status report. While the FBI and DEA proposed July 31, 2025, Greenspan is urging for a May 31 deadline, accusing the agencies of stalling the legal process.
This case marks a significant moment in the long-running effort to uncover the full extent of the alleged investigation and raises questions that could have both domestic and international political implications.