U.S Dept, FBI Give Possible Date To Release President Tinubu’s Criminal Cases, Immigration Records

The United States (US) Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have revealed when they will release Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s criminal and immigration records to the public.

In a court document sighted by journalists, the FBI and US State Department cited ‘unusual circumstances’ for the inability to release the records to the public yet.

While reacting to a freedom of information request, the U.S. authorities said that even if they were to release the demanded records of the Nigerian president, it would be at least until January 2026 before they could do so.

CityNews learnt that a civil lawsuit has now been filed over the matter before Judge Beryl Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C.

Tinubu’s Criminal Record On Demand

Before now, an American public disclosure activist, Aaron Greenspan, had filed a request to the FBI, State Department, Department of Treasury, and Drug Enforcement Administration, among federal and local agencies, seeking an urgent release of Tinubu’s immigration and criminal records.

CityNews learnt that the demand was made following Tinubu’s claims in court that he did not commit any crimes during his stay in the United States.

President Tinubu is also said to have asserted ownership of his identity, despite strong indications he might have changed names and education records in the past.

Recall that there have been a series of controversies over President Tinubu’s real identity.

Tinubu’s Contradictory Records

The former Governor of Lagos State’s educational records contain omissions and contradictions that are yet to be clear to the general public.

For instance, the Nigerian president had said under oath to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) while seeking to be Lagos governor in 1999 that he attended the prestigious University of Chicago.

The university has since disowned Tinubu. Another American school, Chicago State University, confirmed a Bola Tinubu attended the school but did not say whether it was the Nigerian president. Documents from the school showed that a person bearing Bola Tinubu, who attended the school in the 1970s, was a female.

Tinubu also stated under oath in 1999 that he attended primary and secondary schools in Lagos and Ibadan in the 1950s and 1960s, but he expunged those assertions from his latest INEC application form ahead of this year’s general elections in February. He did not explain why he removed the claims, although there was no evidence that the primary school he said he attended ever existed in Nigeria.

Recall that Tinubu was also named as a launderer of proceeds of drug trafficking in U.S. court documents in 1993. He reportedly forfeited $460,000 at the time.

The records formed a key part of an ongoing challenge to Mr Tinubu’s election as president of Nigeria before a tribunal hearing election petitions in Abuja. This prompted Mr Greenspan, who runs PlainSite, a website that holds files from American courts and institutions, to file multiple requests to U.S. authorities in possession of documents that could help clarify some of the crucial questions upsetting Nigerian minds.

The State Department is believed to have records of whether or not the person who applied for a U.S. visa and travelled as Bola Tinubu in the 1970s is the same person running Nigeria today.