A US court has taken a new step in the long-running Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case seeking the release of alleged drug-trafficking records linked to President Bola Tinubu.
In an update posted on X, Washington-based lobbying firm Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. said it had been informed that Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, on Friday, August 21, granted the FBI permission to submit the records to the court privately for an in-camera review.
The firm said the judge gave the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and President Tinubu until August 28, 2026, to file their opposition to the release of the records.
It described the court’s use of the phrase “and no later” as an indication that the judge had reached the limit of the time allowed for further submissions.
The firm added that the FBI would now have to persuade the court why the records should remain undisclosed, including by submitting the sensitive documents privately for judicial review.
According to the firm, the FBI had acknowledged that it possesses highly sensitive information relating to allegations of drug trafficking involving Tinubu.
The case remains part of an ongoing legal battle over whether the records should be made public under the FOIA.
