U.S Judge denies Greenspan’s request to expedite release of Tinubu’s confidential records

President Bola Tinubu received a temporary reprieve when a U.S. federal judge denied a request for the urgent release of confidential records compiled by American law enforcement authorities. The motion, submitted by Aaron Greenspan on October 20, sought to expedite the disclosure of records scheduled for release by the end of October.

Judge Beryl Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington D.C. ruled on Monday night, stating, “Plaintiff’s emergency motion for a hearing to compel immediate document production is denied. No hearing to determine the merits of this motion is necessary.”

Greenspan, a transparency activist behind Plainsite, filed the emergency request after Tinubu initiated legal action against the release, citing concerns about privacy and statutory rights.

Greenspan alleged that Tinubu was attempting to slow down the release of documents, which U.S. agencies had agreed to release in batches by the end of October, potentially to minimize the impact of the disclosures on the ongoing election dispute at the Nigerian Supreme Court.

Greenspan has been closely following political controversies in Nigeria, particularly regarding a 1993 case in which Tinubu forfeited over $460,000 to the U.S. government for money laundering tied to narcotics trafficking in Chicago. The sought-after records could potentially shed light on Tinubu’s true identity, especially regarding the name he used when initially traveling to the United States decades ago.

Judge Howell argued that Greenspan did not sufficiently justify the urgency of his request for expedited record release, particularly in light of the need to protect Tinubu’s interests.

She stated, “Plaintiff has not made any representation to the court that the balance of equities tips in his favor or that the granting of his motion would further the public interest. Given that the FOIA request is for records that, if any exist, may be of a highly sensitive and private nature, and that the subject of those documents, Bola A. Tinubu, has had no opportunity to protect his privacy interests in any such records, the balance of equities militates strongly in favor of denying this emergency motion.”

Additionally, the judge approved Tinubu’s request to allow his lawyer, Christopher Carmichael, to appear in the case, though she has yet to rule on the president’s motion to intervene in the matter.

The U.S. Department of Justice, represented by Matthew Graves, expressed neutrality, stating that they would not take a position on whether Tinubu should join the case.