By Lizzy Chirkpi
The United States Department of Justice has asked a federal court for additional time to respond to an order concerning the release of FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) records linked to a historical investigation involving Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to a fresh post by Washington-based lobbying and policy firm Von Batten-Montague-York, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro has again asked Judge Beryl Howell for an extension, seeking to move the current August 21 deadline to August 28.
The firm said Pirro’s latest emergency request indicates that the FBI, DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office are still working internally to prepare their response to the court.
According to the firm, two declarations contain information considered sufficiently sensitive to warrant a request for “ex parte in camera review”, a legal procedure under which a judge examines material privately rather than having it immediately placed on the public record.
The development comes amid a long-running Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case seeking records relating to U.S. investigations from the early 1990s involving Tinubu and several other individuals.
In April 2025, Judge Howell ruled that the FBI and DEA could no longer rely on so-called “Glomar” responses, under which government agencies neither confirm nor deny the existence of requested records. She ordered the agencies to search for and process records that were responsive to the FOIA requests and not exempt from disclosure.
The ruling, however, did not establish that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence.
Von Batten-Montague-York, which has been advocating the release of the records, described the latest request as an indication that the disclosure process is moving more quickly under the current administration than it did previously.
“The government says it is dealing with very sensitive information,” the firm said.
It added that “two declarations require what is called ‘ex parte in camera review’,” meaning that the government wants Judge Howell to examine the declarations privately.
The lobbying firm also advanced a more contentious interpretation of the development, suggesting that the sensitive records could indicate that Tinubu “was caught and made a deal with the U.S. government”, which it argued might explain why funds linked to him were seized without a criminal prosecution.
That claim remains the firm’s opinion and has not been established by Judge Howell or supported by independently verified evidence cited in the current proceedings. There is also no evidence in the material reviewed for this report establishing that any agreement between Tinubu and the U.S. government was responsible for the historical forfeiture of funds.
The dispute centres on records sought by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan. His FOIA requests relate to a Chicago-based narcotics investigation from the early 1990s and seek records concerning Tinubu and three other individuals.
Judge Howell’s April 2025 ruling stated that the FBI and DEA had officially confirmed investigations relating to Tinubu and ordered the agencies to process records that were not legally exempt from disclosure.
The Nigerian Presidency has previously rejected suggestions that the records contain damaging new information.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said in April 2025 that “There is nothing new to be revealed,” arguing that the relevant FBI and DEA reports had been publicly available for decades and “did not indict the Nigerian leader.”
The latest request adds another layer to the protracted legal battle over the extent to which the U.S. law-enforcement records should be made public.
Von Batten-Montague-York has urged the Trump administration and Congress to release the documents, arguing that diplomatic or political considerations should not prevent the disclosure of records that are legally subject to release.
The firm concluded its statement by calling for the documents to be made public, saying: “Deal or no deal, for the integrity of the United States and President Trump, especially after Venezuela, release the documents.”
The case remains before Judge Howell, who will determine whether to grant the government’s request for additional time and how its request for private review of the sensitive material should be handled.