The Presidency has clarified that the ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case involving US agencies and records relating to President Bola Tinubu is a civil records-disclosure dispute, not a criminal case or finding of wrongdoing against the President.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the case arose from FOIA requests filed by Aaron Greenspan in 2022. The US court later allowed Tinubu to participate as an intervenor, while several agencies, including the CIA, Department of State, Treasury and IRS, were removed from the case after successfully invoking legal protections.

Onanuga said the FBI and DEA have produced 399 pages of records, with portions redacted under US law to protect grand jury proceedings, legal privileges, personal privacy and confidential sources and investigative methods. Tinubu has also asserted his rights under a FOIA privacy exemption.

He said the remaining dispute concerns whether the redactions are lawful, adding that the US District Court will determine the matter based on applicable law and evidence. The Presidency urged Nigerians and the media to distinguish the ongoing court proceedings from political speculation, stressing that the release or withholding of FOIA records does not by itself establish criminal liability.