BREAKING: FBI Releases Tinubu’s Criminal Records to Judge Beryl Howell ‘For Her Eyes Only’

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has submitted records relating to President Bola Tinubu’s 1993 drug-trafficking and money-laundering case to a United States federal judge, but the documents have been placed under seal and are currently accessible only to the court.

Court filings cited by Peoples Gazette indicate that the FBI hand-delivered the records to Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, August 28, 2026.

The records were submitted “under seal, ex parte, in camera,” meaning they were provided confidentially for the judge’s private review without the participation of the petitioner, transparency campaigner Aaron Greenspan.

The submission followed a court order issued by Judge Howell directing the FBI to provide records concerning Tinubu after the agency had repeatedly delayed responding to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by Greenspan in 2023.

Greenspan had worked with Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin in seeking access to the records, which are connected to Tinubu’s past dealings with U.S. authorities.

According to the court filing, the documents were hand-delivered to the court on August 28 “in compliance with this Court’s Minute Order dated August 20, 2026.”

The judge had reportedly become increasingly dissatisfied with the FBI’s repeated failure to meet deadlines for producing the requested records. She subsequently set August 28 as a final deadline for the agency to comply.

Rather than releasing the documents directly to Greenspan, the FBI submitted them to the judge for an in-camera review.

The development came after the FBI argued earlier in the week that releasing the records could infringe on Tinubu’s privacy rights. The agency also maintained that the FOIA process is primarily intended to provide access to records concerning the operations of government institutions and does not automatically require the disclosure of private information about individuals.

Tinubu had also opposed the release of the records, arguing that his political opponents could use them to damage his reputation ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election.

The controversy centres on Tinubu’s 1993 encounter with U.S. authorities over allegations involving narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

Tinubu has for years faced questions over the matter and has generally declined to provide detailed public explanations concerning the case.

In 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois released records relating to Tinubu’s dealings with American authorities. The documents included details surrounding a case in which hundreds of thousands of dollars linked to him were forfeited to the U.S. government.

The latest development, however, does not mean the records have been released to the public or to Greenspan. For now, the documents remain under seal while Judge Howell reviews them.

The court’s handling of the records could determine what portions, if any, will eventually become accessible to the petitioner or the public.