The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has explained why it is withholding portions of investigative records sought in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case involving records connected to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The US government, in a court filing dated September 23, 2026, said the withheld portions contain information that could expose confidential sources, investigative methods and other sensitive law-enforcement details.
The case was filed before the US District Court for the District of Columbia by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who is seeking historical records from US agencies concerning investigations involving Tinubu and other individuals.
The latest filing represents the US government’s defence of the DEA’s decision to withhold parts of the requested records.
According to the government, the DEA relied on sworn declarations and a detailed index to explain why certain portions of the documents could not be released under US freedom of information laws.
The agency said the records include various investigative reports generated during its operations, including documents identified as DEA-6, DEA-292 and DEA-210.
The DEA maintained that information relating to confidential sources receives strong protection under US law because disclosure could compromise sources and law-enforcement operations.
“Due to the significant protections afforded to prevent the disclosure of this type of information,” the agency said, the interest in protecting the information outweighed the public interest in its release.
The FOIA dispute dates back to Greenspan’s efforts to obtain historical US law-enforcement records concerning investigations from the 1990s. A 2025 ruling in the case found that the FBI and DEA could not simply refuse to confirm or deny the existence of responsive records in the circumstances before the court, leading to further processing and release of some records.
The ongoing proceedings concern access to government records and should not be confused with a criminal prosecution of Tinubu. Tinubu has denied wrongdoing in relation to the allegations surrounding the historical investigations.
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