The Presidency has criticized opposition leaders and detractors of President Bola Tinubu for exploiting the recent U.S. court order mandating the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to disclose records related to allegations of his involvement in drug trafficking.
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During an appearance on the program "Politics Today" on Channels Television, Daniel Bwala, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, came to the defense of the President. He asserted that anyone who thoroughly reviewed the court ruling would recognize that the records hold no new information beyond what is already public knowledge. On April 8, 2025, Judge Beryl Howell issued a ruling instructing both the FBI and DEA to locate and process non-exempt records tied to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests made by U.S. researcher Aaron Greenspan. Greenspan, the founder of the legal transparency platform PlainSite, filed 12 FOIA requests between 2022 and 2023 seeking details about a Chicago drug ring that operated in the early 1990s, including information on President Tinubu and three others: Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele. Bwala anticipates that the information sought through these records is unlikely to reveal anything beyond what has already been disclosed. He stated, "Regarding the FBI and DEA, the court indicated that if there are still documents considered exempt from previous releases, then we should wait for May 2nd to engage in discussions to assess the validity of the claims before the court. There is truly nothing new in what the court has published; all of it has been in the public domain for quite some time.
Yet, the opposition seems eager to capitalize on this, as they have little else to offer, hoping to manipulate public perception." He emphasized, "There's absolutely nothing novel here. So, let's hold off until May 2nd, as the information being pursued has already been shared. This is merely intended to spark unnecessary dialogue as if there's a pressing issue at hand."