Tinubu gets backing of US Court as Court prevents release of his Files

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu presumably has the backing of the United States District Court in Washington D.C as the court has prevented the release of his confidential files to the public.

In a recent development, a United States District Court in Washington D.C. has denied an urgent request for the release of confidential records pertaining to President Bola Tinubu.

The request, filed by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, aimed to compel U.S. law enforcement authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to release these records scheduled for disclosure before the end of October.

This legal battle unfolded when President Tinubu initiated legal action to prevent the release of these documents, citing concerns about violations of his privacy and other statutory rights.

The President’s legal team expressed their fears that the release of these records could potentially influence the ongoing election dispute in the Nigerian Supreme Court.

However, the U.S. District Court, under the jurisdiction of Judge Beryl Howell, issued a ruling on Monday, denying Greenspan’s emergency motion for the immediate release of the records. Judge Howell determined that an urgent hearing to assess the merits of the motion was unnecessary.

In her ruling, Judge Howell explained that Greenspan had not provided sufficient justification for an expedited hearing.

She emphasized the need to protect President Tinubu’s interests and stated,

“Plaintiff has not made any representation to the court that the balance of equities tips in his favor or that the granting of his motion would further the public interest.”

Given the sensitive and private nature of the requested records and the fact that President Tinubu had not been given an opportunity to protect his privacy interests, Judge Howell ruled in favor of denying the emergency motion.

She concluded,

“Plaintiff’s emergency motion for a hearing to compel immediate document production is denied. No hearing to determine the merits of this motion is necessary.”

Additionally, Judge Howell approved President Tinubu‘s request to have his lawyer, Christopher Carmichael, appear in the case. However, the court has not yet ruled on the President’s motion to intervene in the matter.

Earlier, the U.S. Department of Justice, represented by Matthew Graves, stated that the government would not take a position on whether Bola Tinubu should be allowed to join the case or not.