October 24, (THEWILL) – The United States District Court of the District of Columbia, has refused a motion seeking to compel US security agencies to urgently release information including documents on Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu.
In the civil suit numbered 23-1816, Aaron Greenspan had filed an emergency motion seeking to compel the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (“EOUSA”), the Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to immediately release documents on President Tinubu.
Greenspan, who has been working closely with a Nigerian investigative journalist, David Hundeyin, also asked for similar information and documents on Mueez Adegboyega Akande, who is said to have died as of November 16, 2022.
Greenspan, owner of PlainSite, a website that advocates data transparency to combat corruption in public service, accused President Tinubu of using delay tactics to pause the release of his records by U.S. security agencies including the FBI and the CIA.
He prayed the court to compel the FBI and other agencies to release all necessary documents latest October 31.
In rejecting his motion for immediate release of the documents, the U.S court said Greenspan failed to convince the court the public issues that will cause it to overlook the privacy rights of President Tinubu.
Judge Beryl A. Howell, in his ruling on Monday, said the petitioner also failed to satisfy the relevant conditions for the grant of such a prayer contained in a motion for emergency hearing.
“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.
“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 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”, Howell ruled.
Meanwhile, the court has granted President Tinubu’s plea that his counsel, Christopher Carmichael, be allowed to testify in the case.
However, ruling has not been made on President Tinubu’s application to intervene in the case.
The US Department of Justice, represented by Matthew Graves, had previously stated that the government would not take a position on whether Tinubu should join the case or not.
“On behalf of the defendants, the undersigned counsel does not take a position as to whether the court should grant Bola Tinubu’s motion to intervene”, Graves stated.
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