The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu has taken steps to stop the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other United States services from releasing documents relating to him.
The FBI starting from October would start releasing approximately 2,500 documents relating to President Tinubu in its database.
According to Peoples Gazette, Tinubu’s lawyers in the U.S. have filed motions to appear in an ongoing freedom of information action brought against the U.S. organisations where records that may help answer questions about the president’s real identity and decades-long endeavours are domiciled.
One of the lawyers who represented Tinubu in the recent Chicago records case, Christopher Carmichael filed the motion, dated October 18, 2023, stating that he was a lawyer in good standing to appear in the case in the FOIA lawsuit underway in Washington D.C.
Carey who practices in D.C., said on Carmichael’s behalf, “Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 83.2(c), Bryan A. Carey moves for the admission and appearance of attorney Christopher Carmichael pro hac vice in the above-entitled action.
“This motion is supported by the Declaration of Christopher Carmichael. As set forth in Mr. Carmichael’s declaration, he is admitted and an active member in good standing.”
Carmichael did not respond to a request for comment, and the president’s lead lawyer in the United States, Oluwole Afolabi, told The Gazette that he could not comment on the matter until it had formally begun.
The lawyers would work to file a thorough argument as soon as possible in order to argue any reliefs before the October 31 deadline.
The FBI had said it was planning to release the record before the end of October to Aaron Greenspan, the proprietor of PlainSite, a website that pushes anti-corruption and transparency in public service.
Tinubu’s move came two weeks after he lost a fierce battle to block a federal court in Chicago from releasing his academic records to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
