Tinubu Seeks 10-Day Delay as US Court Considers Release of Drug Trafficking Records
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has joined the US Department of Justice in seeking a 10-day extension to respond to a motion requesting the release of records linked to allegations of drug trafficking.
Tinubu’s legal team filed a notice of joinder before the US District Court for the District of Columbia, asking to be placed on the same schedule as the defendants in the case.
The notice was signed by Christopher W. Carmichael and Victor P. Henderson of Henderson Parks, LLC.
In the filing, Tinubu’s lawyers said they were joining the defendants’ request for additional time to respond to the motion for summary judgment.
“Intervenor joins Defendants’ motion for a 10-day extension of time to file response to the motion for summary judgment,” the filing stated.
The plaintiff opposed the request, while the defendant reportedly did not. US District Judge Beryl Howell subsequently denied the application for an extension.
According to Von Batten-Montague-York, a US-based policy advisory and lobbying firm retained by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The firm later alleged in a post on X that the requested delay could have given Tinubu more time to lobby US officials against the release of the records.
It further claimed that the records could become part of discussions concerning US-Nigeria relations and Tinubu’s cooperation with Washington on security matters.
The claims by the lobbying firm have not established that Tinubu attempted to influence the judicial or Freedom of Information Act process.
The case, Aaron Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, et al., Civil Action No. 23-1816 (BAH), has been pending for more than three years.
The records sought in the case concern US investigations and allegations relating to Tinubu and suspected drug-trafficking activities.
The matter also touches on a 1993 US forfeiture proceeding involving $460,000 held in an account in Tinubu’s name.
A US District Court ordered the funds forfeited to the government, stating that they represented proceeds of narcotics trafficking or were involved in transactions that violated money-laundering laws.
Tinubu has consistently denied involvement in drug trafficking.
His lawyers have maintained that the forfeiture proceeding was a civil action against the money and not a criminal case against Tinubu.
They have also argued that he was never arrested, indicted, arraigned or convicted of a drug offence in the United States.
The latest development concerns the release of records sought in the long-running US court case and does not amount to a criminal conviction against the Nigerian president.
