A United States federal court has rejected an attempt by plaintiff Aaron Greenspan to obtain discovery from Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and DCI Group in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia delivered the ruling on Friday, October 30, 2026. It denied Greenspan’s motion seeking limited discovery from the Nigerian President and the political consulting firm over alleged cyberattacks on his website.
The court held that the proposed discovery was not sufficiently relevant to the substantive issues in the FOIA litigation, which centres on requests for records held by the two American federal law enforcement agencies. The decision effectively blocked efforts to introduce the alleged cyberattacks into the proceedings.
In the same ruling, the court denied Greenspan’s motion for summary judgment. It also rejected a separate application by non-party Karl Von Batten seeking permission to file an amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) brief, along with Greenspan’s related request for judicial notice.
Attorney Christopher W. Carmichael said the decision made clear that the FOIA proceeding could not be used to pursue discovery unrelated to the legal questions before the court. “By denying the request for discovery against President Tinubu and DCI Group, the Court reinforced the importance of keeping this litigation focused on the issues properly before it,” he stated.
Attorney Oluwole Afolabi noted that while the underlying FOIA issues remain before the court, the rulings establish important procedural boundaries and clarify which matters are appropriate for consideration.
The development was disclosed in a statement shared by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy. The underlying FOIA case, which involves requests for records related to Tinubu, continues.
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