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BREAKING: Tinubu frustrates Atiku! *US court refuses to compel speedy FBI’s release of President’s records
Atiku Abubakar, has lost his bid to compel the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to release the confidential records of President, Bola Tinubu, his second recourse to the US court to help him in his ongoing bid to oust the President through the courts before the Supreme Court, where he is pushing to prove that he is not qualified to contest the 2023 election.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who was beaten to the second position, in the election, according to the result released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), through which Tinubu was declared the winner and subsequently sworn into office on May 29, 2023, had failed to get his wish at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, sitting as the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT).
The former Vice President, had earlier persuaded the District Court in Illinois to order the Chicago State University (CSU), Tinubu claimed to have attended to release his academic records in the institution, with which he rushed to the Supreme Court to file a case of forgery, claiming that the certificate the President claimed to have obtained, was different from what he submitted to INEC prior to the election.
He had planned to support this claim with the report of the FBI, which he believed contained damning details that would have nailed the President and proved that he not only forged his papers, but he is indeed an identity thief, prompting him to approach a US court to compel the crime-busting organisation to hasten the process.
But the move, however failed as the court, refused to accede to his request on Monday in its decision, said Aaron Greenspan, a transparency activist running Plainsite, who filed the case on behalf of the former VP, did not adequately justify his request for an urgent hearing on his motion for expedited release of records, especially against the need to protect Tinubu’s interest.
Greenspan, who had on July 21, 2022, filed a Freedom of Information request asking the country’s agencies to release Tinubu’s records, followed with an emergency motion on Friday, October 20, seeking the immediate release of the records.
The latest motion, urged Justice Beryl Howell to quickly order the FBI, State Department and other U.S. bodies to immediately turn over records they scheduled for release before the end of October, ostensibly to preempt the proceedings at the apex court in Nigeria, where an intense legal battle ensued between Tinubu and his accusers on Monday.
But in her verdict on the same day, Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington D.C. ruled: “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.”
Tinubu, who had rushed to the same court to stall the case, a move Greenspan explained, was an attempt to slow-walk the release of the documents, which the agencies had previously stipulated would be released in batches effective October ending, to foreclose any impact the disclosures might have on the ongoing election dispute at the Nigerian Supreme Court.
The US rights campaigner had joined the Executive Office for US Attorneys, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), US Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), US Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and the US Drug Enforcement Administration, as defendants.
The President’s counter motion seeking to intervene or be an intervenor in the case, pleading with the court to stop the said groups from releasing records related to his residence in the US, was particularly for the court to intervene in the case between Aaron Greenspan (Plaintiff) and Executive Office for US Attorneys, et al. (Defendants) with Civil Action No. 23-1816 (BAH).
Tinubu’s confidential tax record, which the Internal Revenue Service is prohibited from disclosing by federal law, and documents from federal law enforcement agencies that fall within the Privacy Act or exceptions to FOIA and should not be disclosed.
Greenspan had followed political controversies in Nigeria since his website was besieged by Nigerians looking for information about the 1993 case that saw Tinubu forfeit over $460,000 to the U.S. government after being caught laundering proceeds of narcotics trafficking in Chicago.
The records Greenspan seeks could potentially help provide clarity around Tinubu’s real identity, especially the name under which he first travelled to the United States decades ago. The Nigerian president has been known to use clashing identities in the past.
But the judge, Howell, in her decision, said Greenspan did not adequately justify his request for an urgent hearing on his motion for expedited release of records, especially against the need to protect Tinubu’s interest.
“Plaintiff has not made any representation to the court that the balance of equities tips in his favour or that the granting of his motion would further the public interest,” Ms Howell said. “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 favour of denying this emergency motion.”
The judge also approved Tinubu’s request to allow his lawyer, Christopher Carmichael, to appear in the case, although she has yet to rule on the president’s motion to intervene in the matter.
Earlier, the U.S. Department of Justice, represented by Matthew Graves, had said the government would not be taking any position as to whether Tinubu should join the case or not.
“On behalf of defendants, the undersigned counsel does not take a position as to whether the court should grant Bola Tinubu’s motion to intervene. Mr. Tinubu should be allowed to intervene because he has a direct interest in the records sought, his interests are not fully represented or protected by Defendants, and his interests will be adversely affected if he is not permitted to intervene.”
Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, seems to find merit in the damning verdict of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), accusing security agencies in Nigeria of complicity in the deluge of terrorist attacks in the country.
Jare Ajayi, National Secretary of the group, in agreeing with the position, posited on Wednesday: “This is because of the strong belief that the nature of terrorism bedeviling Nigeria would not be festering for this long without complicity from some powerful quarters.”
Though he acknowledged the determination of some patriotic operatives and government to stem the tide, he posited how difficult it was to believe that the activities of the terrorists would continue to thrive without active connivance.
Hear him: “With the vows by the President and top security officers, one has the feeling that the government is determined to end terrorism in Nigeria. When President Bola Tinubu appointed General Christopher Musa, (retd), as Minister of Defence, we had a lot of hope that within months, a total stop would be put to terrorism and banditry in the country.
“Unfortunately, there seems to be a spike, rather than reduction. The reason for this could be rooted in sabotage and complicity from within and from without. This tends to buttress the alarm raised by the US Commission.”
Stressing how the organisation been consistently calling the attention of authorities to areas that needed be looked into he maintained that these included politicians, who could be complicit in promoting the urgly situation.
Citing the recent comments by Godswill Akpabio, Senate President, who pointed in the same direction, Ajayi stated that no matter how unpalatable the position of the US body could be: “It is very important not to dismiss it but to use it a beacon with which to comb all areas.”
“Many people doubted us. Some dismissed us. Others predicted confusion, division, and even outright collapse. But you stood firm. You kept faith with the ADC. And today, because of your commitment, our party stands taller, stronger, and more united.”
With these words, David Mark, National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Wednesday’s night showered praises on members for conducting what he considered a flawless presidential primary election to choose its candidate for the 2027 election.
Mark, Senate President from 2007 to 2015, his audience at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, that by the outcome, the party had demonstrated that democracy and political competition could still thrive in Nigeria without crisis or division.
Regardless of the rejection of the result of the exercise by Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), who contested in the exercise, the former Chairman of the National Assembly, was still upbeat about its outcome.
Atiku Abubakar, Vice President between 1999 and 2007, had emerged winner of the process that took place across Nigeria from Monday till Wednesday, when the result was eventually announced.
The declared result showed that the former VP who would be running for the nation’s number one job for a record seven times came tops with Atiku 1,846,370, to Amaechi’s 504,117 and Hayat-Deen’s 177,120. Total votes cast in the election: 2,546,457 in the 3,113,599 tally.
Mark, who officially presented the ADC flag to Atiku as the party’s presidential standard-bearer, was emphatic that the exercise was not merely about producing a presidential candidate but about proving that internal democracy could still function effectively in the country.
Hear him: “Today is not just about announcing a presidential candidate. Today is also about proving a point to Nigeria and to Nigerians. It is about proving that democracy can still work.
“Proving that political competition does not have to become political warfare. That a party can organise itself around principles instead of personalities. This event has shown that in a season of deep national anxiety, a bright future is still possible.”
Stressing that had doubted the party’s ability to conduct a peaceful and credible primary, with some predicting division and collapse within the ADC, he praised members of the Presidential Screening Committee and Presidential Primary Election Committee for what he described as their professionalism and commitment to fairness despite pressure surrounding the exercise.
“In the face of enormous pressure, logistical complexity, and intense national attention, they carried out their responsibilities with courage, discipline, and an unwavering commitment to fairness and transparency. The conduct of the primary has strengthened confidence in the party and its democratic process.
“Their work has strengthened the credibility of this exercise and reinforced the confidence of our members and the Nigerian people in the integrity of the African Democratic Congress.
“It is important to mention that we are the only political party to have three strong aspirants contest for the presidential ticket. This alone makes the ADC unique in its deep commitment to democracy and democratic practices.
“By subjecting themselves to this process, they did not merely contest an election. They strengthened democracy. And despite efforts in some quarters to create uncertainty and tension, they remained committed to this process and to the ideals of this party,” he added.
For Nnenna Nnannaya-Oti, the first female Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), it was another day of glory, as Alex Otti, Governor of Abia laid out another red carpet for her in lieu of her starling performance in the 2023 governorship election in the state.
The university don, was the Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who was nationally recognised for standing her ground against forces that reportedly tried to skew the process, leading to the emergence of Otti as governor.
Since then, she had received several recognitions including from the governor and other bodies, including her own students at FUTO, who gave her a heroic welcome upon the conclusion of her INEC task – the first and only one to be so accorded in Nigeria.
Wednesday’s recognition came through the naming of the newly inaugurated Umuahia Central Bus Terminal, a multimodal transport facility in the state capital after her, by the governor, who said it was in recognition of her role in that exercise.
Otti, who stressed that the decision was informed by her act of courage, integrity and commitment to truth, said: “This terminal has been named after Professor Nnenna Nnannaya-Oti, the courageous INEC returning officer who demonstrated unflinching integrity in the discharge of her duties during a high-stakes election assignment here in Abia.”
The governor, while stating that the honour was not limited to don alone but symbolised all individuals who resisted electoral manipulation added: “In 2023, through her courageous disposition of standing firmly by the truth… she reminded us that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary results by simply saying no.
“So she’s just a representative of all of you—INEC staff who never bent, party officials who didn’t give in, security agencies… people who said no to intimidation.”
Stressing that the state had moved beyond basic infrastructure delivery to building an integrated transport system, he said: “The days of playing small is over. We shall no longer confine ourselves to the margins.”
He explained that the terminal was designed to accommodate over 340 buses and would improve accessibility, safety and efficiency in urban transport operations, adding that it would be supported by electric bus services, with 20 already in operation, while additional units are expected in phases.
“Services will keep improving as more buses are delivered… and you can tell with accuracy when a particular bus will arrive and depart,” he said.
He urged residents to protect the facility and support government efforts by maintaining order and paying taxes, warning against vandalism, waste disposal violations and other practices that could undermine the project, stressing that offenders would face sanctions.
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