President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has joined a request by the United States Department of Justice seeking an additional 10 days to respond to a court order concerning the release of records linked to allegations of drug trafficking involving him.
Gatekeepers News reports that Tinubu’s legal team filed a notice of joinder before the US District Court for the District of Columbia, asking that the President’s response follow the same schedule as that of the US government.
The development is part of a long-running Freedom of Information Act case brought by US transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who is seeking records held by US agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), relating to past investigations involving Tinubu.
In the filing, Tinubu’s counsel said the President was joining the defendants’ request for a 10-day extension to respond to a motion for summary judgment.
However, US District Judge Beryl Howell did not grant the full extension. The court set August 21, 2026, as the deadline for the US government and Tinubu to respond.
The records being sought relate to a US investigation dating back to the 1990s and allegations concerning drug trafficking and a subsequent civil forfeiture case involving funds connected to Tinubu.
Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing and has not been convicted of drug trafficking in the United States. The forfeiture case was a civil proceeding involving money rather than a criminal conviction against the President.
The case has attracted renewed political attention in Nigeria, particularly as the country approaches the 2027 general election. The Washington-based lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, which is retained by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, disclosed Tinubu’s decision to join the US Justice Department’s request.
The court’s August 21 deadline means the US government and Tinubu are expected to respond to the ongoing disclosure proceedings by that date.
