Lawyer explains why Tinubu is resisting release of FBI, DEA records

The lawyer representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the ongoing legal battle over the release of records held by United States law enforcement agencies, Wole Afolabi, SAN, has said his client would have been indicted, arrested and prosecuted if he had been involved in heroin trafficking in the US.

Mr Afolabi stated this during an interview on Channels Television while explaining the legal position of Tinubu’s team in a Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, case seeking the release of records relating to investigations involving the Nigerian president.

His comments followed a legal battle in the United States over a FOIA request filed by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who is seeking records relating to investigations involving Tinubu.

The requested records reportedly include an FBI file on Tinubu, FBI Form 302 interview records covering the period between 1992 and 1993, as well as other documents linked to the 1993 civil forfeiture proceedings involving approximately $460,000.

Mr Tinubu has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to the matter.

However, the President’s legal team has asked the US District Court for the District of Columbia to reject Greenspan’s bid for further disclosure and allow existing redactions and withholdings by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, to remain in place.

The 16-page filing argued, among other things, that further disclosure could infringe on Tinubu’s privacy rights, adding that the limited information previously made public had not extinguished his privacy interest in the undisclosed portions of the investigative files.

Asked during the interview to explain precisely what the President had told him about the forfeiture proceedings, Mr Afolabi said he was constrained by his professional obligations and could not disclose confidential communications between a lawyer and his client.

“I’m acting as a lawyer, and as a lawyer, there is a civil suit right here. One can lose one’s licence very easily,” he said.

“Unfortunately, I can’t divulge any information that my client has disclosed to me confidentially. I’m sorry.”

Explaining his interpretation of the law, the lawyer said that if Tinubu had actually committed the alleged criminal offence in the United States, he would have faced prosecution.

“But to the extent that I can, if he were involved, he would have been indicted, arrested and prosecuted,” he said.

Mr Afolabi, however, said he did not know the contents of the portions of the records that had been redacted.

“I don’t know what’s in the documents,” he said.

When asked whether he could unequivocally confirm if Tinubu had been investigated by either the FBI or DEA, the lawyer declined to answer directly.

“That’s not a question that I answer yes or no,” he said.

“Anybody can be investigated. Anybody. That’s the presumption of innocence.”

To buttress his argument, Afolabi cited investigations conducted by the FBI during the tenure of its former director, J. Edgar Hoover, including the agency’s investigation of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

He maintained that the existence of investigative records did not, by itself, constitute evidence of wrongdoing.

The lawyer also rejected suggestions that Tinubu’s continued opposition to the release of the records amounted to an attempt to conceal potentially damaging information from Nigerians.

According to him, the President’s legal team based its position on existing US law and concerns raised by the agencies holding the records.

He said the FBI and DEA were particularly concerned that releasing some of the withheld information could expose agents, confidential sources and investigative methods.

“They are saying that they have sources and informants. They don’t want them to be compromised,” he said.