Abuja, Nigeria – Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has urged the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) not to withhold records relating to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that can lawfully be disclosed to the public.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku reacted to the FBI’s recent request to a US court for permission to submit confidential explanations for withholding certain investigative records concerning the Nigerian leader.
The FBI had filed a motion dated August 20 before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking leave to present declarations ex parte and in camera (privately to the judge, without public disclosure).
The agency argued that fully explaining its reasons for withholding portions of the records on the public record could reveal sensitive law-enforcement techniques and procedures or endanger the life or physical safety of individuals.
The records at issue stem from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking the FBI’s complete file on Tinubu and Form 302 interview reports linked to an FBI case (No. 245-IP-71386) from the 1992–1993 period, connected to allegations involving a Chicago-based heroin trafficking investigation. The FBI has invoked multiple FOIA exemptions, including those protecting privacy, confidential sources, investigative methods and personal safety.
Atiku rejected the blanket “danger to lives” justification, arguing that Nigerians are already suffering under the current administration’s economic policies.
“The FBI says disclosure could endanger lives. Which lives? Nigerians are already dying,” the statement quoted him as saying. He linked the hardship to the removal of fuel subsidy, which he said had driven up transportation costs, food prices and production expenses while squeezing jobs and household incomes.
The former vice president stressed that he was not asking the FBI to expose undercover agents, confidential sources or legitimate investigative techniques.
“Protect your agents. Protect your sources. Protect legitimate investigative methods. Redact whatever American law genuinely requires you to redact. But do not stretch those protections until they become a bulletproof vest for Tinubu,” Atiku stated.
He framed the demand as a matter of democratic accountability rather than foreign interference in Nigerian politics.
“Our demand of American law enforcement is not a call to interfere in Nigeria’s politics… Where information relevant to that legitimate public interest rests with American law enforcement and can lawfully be disclosed, the principles of openness and democratic accountability demand that it should not be unnecessarily hidden.
“If information can lawfully be released without endangering investigators, confidential sources or legitimate law-enforcement operations, release it. Nigerians are not asking America to conduct our democracy for us. We are saying that American secrecy laws must not inadvertently become a sanctuary from accountability in Nigeria.
“So, to the FBI, our message is simple: Protect your investigators. Protect your sources. Protect your methods. But do not protect the truth from Nigerians. Our people are already paying for bad governance with their lives.”
The FOIA litigation was initiated by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan. A Washington-based lobbying firm retained by Atiku, Von Batten-Montague-York, has been actively publicising developments in the case.
President Tinubu has not been convicted of any drug-related offence in connection with the historical records under discussion. The matter continues to generate political debate in Nigeria ahead of the 2027 general elections.
This report is based on the official statement issued by Atiku Abubakar’s media office on August 22, 2026, and contemporaneous court filings reported by multiple Nigerian media outlets.
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