The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the subject of a criminal investigation linked to drug-trafficking activities in the early 1990s.

The confirmation was contained in a sworn declaration filed by the FBI on August 28, 2026, before the US District Court for the District of Columbia in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case seeking records relating to Tinubu.

The FBI said the records being sought were “compiled in furtherance of the FBI’s investigation of multiple individuals for drug-trafficking crimes.”

The agency also acknowledged that the court had previously determined that there had been an official acknowledgement of an investigation involving Tinubu.

The latest development follows an April 2025 ruling by US District Judge Beryl Howell, who held that the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) could no longer use “Glomar” responses to refuse to confirm or deny the existence of records concerning Tinubu.

Howell directed the agencies to process records that were not exempt from disclosure under FOIA, but the ruling did not establish that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence or was convicted of any crime.

The FOIA case arose from requests by US transparency activist Aaron Greenspan for, among other documents, the “entire FBI file for Bola Ahmed Tinubu” and FBI Form 302 interview records relating to Tinubu in FBI Case No. 245-IP-71386-UUUUUU between 1992 and 1993.

The requests relate to a broader investigation into a Chicago-based heroin-trafficking operation investigated by US authorities in the early 1990s.

The FBI has continued to withhold portions of the records, citing FOIA exemptions covering personal privacy, confidential sources, law-enforcement techniques and information whose disclosure could endanger individuals.

The latest development was publicised by Von Batten-Montague-York, a Washington-based lobbying firm reportedly hired by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

The firm said it was reviewing records obtained from the FBI and argued that the agency's declaration contradicted claims that Tinubu had never been the subject of a criminal investigation.

The Presidency, however, dismissed the development as politically motivated.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, described the controversy as “a clinical demonstration of desperation” and accused the opposition of using a Washington-based advisory firm to generate headlines ahead of the 2027 election.

Dare also cautioned against portraying statements by the lobbying firm as the position of the US government, describing them as “public relations propaganda sheets passed off as the view of the U.S. Government.”

He challenged those making broader allegations against Tinubu to produce evidence supporting claims concerning classified intelligence and questioned the role of the lobbying firm in the FOIA proceedings.

Dare further alleged that Foreign Agents Registration Act filings showed that Atiku contracted Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. on a $1.2 million, 12-month retainer to counter the Nigerian government's narratives and deploy historical US judicial records ahead of the election.

He also rejected suggestions that Tinubu's foreign travel was connected to the FOIA proceedings, saying the President was on a previously scheduled annual leave.

Meanwhile, Tinubu's legal team has opposed further disclosure of the records, arguing that releasing personal information contained in government archives would violate the President's privacy rights.

The Presidency also maintained that if Tinubu had been criminally liable under US law, American authorities would have indicted and prosecuted him at the time.

The latest FBI filing therefore confirms the existence and official acknowledgement of a criminal investigation involving Tinubu in the 1990s, but the disclosed material does not establish that he committed a drug-trafficking offence or was convicted of one.