Nigerian President Tinubu has right to contest US drug record release, lawyer says
Tinubu's legal counsel says the Nigerian president acted on legal advice in challenging the release of US government documents tied to drug trafficking allegations.
Tinubu's lawyers defend bid to block US drug trafficking documents
Google News UK — Crime (en) reports that legal counsel to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has defended the president's decision to challenge the release of US government documents connected to long-standing drug trafficking allegations.
Lawyer Chris Carmichael told BBC News Pidgin that the move was taken to protect Tinubu's legal rights and should not be interpreted as an admission of wrongdoing. "Like every other person who participates in the American legal system, President Tinubu has the right to exercise his rights or waive them," Carmichael said, adding that rights waived by a litigant are "lost forever."
Carmichael confirmed that the president had acted on legal advice when he moved to prevent the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from releasing records and documents connected to the case. "Upon the advice of counsel, we suggested to the President that he exercise his rights in order to be treated like any other participant in court. The President accepted our advice," Carmichael said.
The legal battle centres on whether US agencies should disclose records relating to past investigations and proceedings that have become a subject of political debate in both Nigeria and the United States. Supporters of the president have argued that requests for disclosure are politically motivated; critics maintain the records should be made public in the interest of transparency.
Carmichael stressed that the matter remains before the court and that the presiding judge will have the final say. "As always, the Judge will decide the outcome of the case. As his lawyers, we are optimistic that the court will treat the president fairly and that this matter will conclude within a reasonable period," he said.
Tinubu has repeatedly denied any involvement in drug trafficking and has consistently maintained that no American court has ever convicted him of a criminal offence.
The case was brought to renewed public attention after American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against several US government agencies seeking access to documents relating to investigations into Tinubu. Greenspan's requests include the FBI's entire file on Tinubu and FBI Form 302 interview records covering the period between 1992 and 1993.
Central to the proceedings is an alleged record connected to a 1993 civil forfeiture case in the United States involving approximately $460,000 linked to Tinubu. The president's legal team, in a 16-page court filing, argued that releasing those records could infringe on his privacy.
The filing stated that documents submitted in the 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding "do not show details of any possible criminal investigation against Tinubu or the outcome of any such investigation" and that, aside from "assumptions and labels", the plaintiff had not pointed to any existing public record containing details of a government criminal investigation or findings against the president.
The documents further argued that Tinubu "retains a privacy interest in potential disclosure of the investigative files" regardless of any prior disclosure during the forfeiture proceeding.
Separately, Von Batten-Montague-York, a US-based policy advisory and lobbying firm, said on its verified X account that the Nigerian leader was "fighting hard" to keep the alleged drug trafficking records from being released and that he had asked the court to order US agencies not to disclose them, citing his right to privacy.
The firm also said that the FBI and the DEA had submitted new filings to the court concerning alleged heroin-trafficking records involving the president. According to Von Batten-Montague-York, an FBI search responsive to Tinubu produced 399 pages of documents. The firm said those records included materials tied to a drug-trafficking investigation involving heroin-residue laboratory testing, controlled drug purchases by a cooperating witness, confidential informants, federal grand-jury activity, prosecutorial reports, surveillance, undercover operations, financial seizures, bank-account seizure warrants, IRS criminal-investigation material, and international investigative coordination.
The court has yet to rule on whether the agencies must release the disputed documents.
Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)