Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the clarification in a statement issued on Thursday.
Onanuga explained that the case was initiated by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and does not constitute a criminal prosecution against Tinubu.
He stressed that the court has not convicted or made any finding of criminal wrongdoing against the Nigerian president.
“For clarity, the matter is a civil records-disclosure dispute under the United States Freedom of Information Act. It is not a criminal case against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, nor has the court found him guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” Onanuga said.
According to him, Greenspan first submitted FOIA requests in 2022 to several US government agencies seeking records connected to an investigation dating back to the early 1990s.
When the requested information was not fully released, Greenspan instituted Civil Action No. 23-1816 before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in 2023.
The Presidency said Tinubu was subsequently permitted by the court to participate in the case as an intervenor to protect his privacy interests.
Onanuga noted that several US agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of State, Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, were later removed from the proceedings after obtaining summary judgment based on the so-called “Glomar” defence.
The defence allows an agency, under certain circumstances, to neither confirm nor deny whether it possesses particular records.
However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration remain parties to the case and have released 399 pages of documents, although portions of the records were withheld or redacted under exemptions permitted by US law.
The Presidency said the redactions cover areas including grand jury secrecy, attorney-client privilege, law enforcement considerations, personal privacy, confidential sources and investigative methods.
Onanuga added that Tinubu himself had invoked privacy protections available under the FOIA.
He said the legal process was still ongoing, with Greenspan expected to respond to filings by the defendants and Tinubu by September 11, while the FBI, DEA and the President have until September 18 to file further responses.
The presidential aide also criticised recent comments by Karl von Batten, arguing that neither Von Batten nor his client is a party to the proceedings.
He urged Nigerian media organisations to rely on the actual court proceedings rather than political interpretations of the case.
“The Nigerian media should note that this case is exclusively within the control of Judge Beryl A. Howell of the United States District Court. She will determine its outcome, based on the evidence, applicable law, and the parties’ arguments,” Onanuga said.
The dispute originated from 12 FOIA requests submitted by Greenspan between 2022 and 2023, seeking records from six US federal agencies concerning a Chicago heroin-trafficking investigation from the early 1990s in which Tinubu was named alongside Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande and Abiodun Agbele.
After the agencies initially declined to confirm or deny the existence of the requested records, Greenspan filed the lawsuit in June 2023.
In April 2025, Judge Howell ruled that the agencies’ blanket refusals were “neither logical nor plausible” and ordered the FBI and DEA to process the records.
Tinubu was subsequently allowed to intervene in the proceedings as the case continues.
