By John Ogunsemore
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have sought a 90-day extension from a United States District Court to produce documents relating to an alleged drug investigation involving President Bola Tinubu dating back to the 1990s.
FBI and DEA had been due to release the records on May 2, 2025, in compliance with an order of Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court in Columbia issued on April 8.
The court ruling followed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by American researcher, Aaron Greenspan.
Between 2022 and 2023, Greenspan, who founded legal transparency platform PlainSite, had submitted 12 FOIA requests, seeking information on a Chicago drug ring that operated in the early 1990s.
He sought information on four key individuals allegedly involved in the drug ring: Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele.
Judge Howell ordered the FBI and DEA to provide a status update on the search and release of non-exempt documents by May 2, 2025.
But on Thursday, May 1, the agencies, in a joint status report filed with the court, requested a 90-day extension to produce the documents, saying they needed more time to complete their searches.
The report reads, “Aaron Greenspan (“Plaintiff”) and Defendants Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the only remaining defendants in this case, respectfully submit the following joint status report proposing a schedule to govern further proceedings, pursuant to the Court’s Order of April 8, 2025 (ECF №47).
“Pursuant to the court’s order, the defendants, FBI and DEA must search for and produce non-exempt records responsive to the plaintiff’s FOIA requests (FBI Requests Nos. 1588244–000 and 1593615- 000, and DEA Request Nos. 22–00892-F and 24–00201-F).
“The FBI and DEA have initiated their searches for responsive, non-exempt, reasonably segregable portions of records requested by the plaintiff and anticipate completing their searches in ninety days.”
However, Greenspan, an associate of Nigerian journalist, David Hundeyin, slammed the agencies for delaying the process and asked the court to shorten the 90-day extension sought.
He said, “Given the years-long delay already caused by the defendants and the fact that many responsive documents have already been identified, the plaintiff proposes that the FBI and DEA complete their searches and productions by next week, or, at the very least, produce unredacted versions of the already-identified documents by next week, with the remainder completed in 14 days. The defendants provide no rationale for why their search for documents should take 90 days.
“The FBI and DEA have initiated their searches for responsive, non-exempt, reasonably segregable portions of records requested by the plaintiff and anticipate completing their searches in ninety days.”