With FBI Files Anti-Redaction Case In US Court, Tinubu Meets With FBI Director Christopher Wray

The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Christopher Wray, on Friday met with President Bola Tinubu, the Office of the National Security Advisor (ONSA) headed by Nuhu Ribadu, and other Nigeria security agencies to discuss the FBI’s partnership with Nigeria on “countering” terrorism, violent crime, and cybercrime.

This meeting, which was held in Abuja had in attendance the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, who spoke on the need for close cooperation with the FBI on tackling cybercrimes and sextortion schemes emanating from Nigeria.

According to a press release concerning the meeting, Director Wray also addressed the rise of kidnappings for ransom as a criminal enterprise in Nigeria.

The FBI’s International Violent Crimes Unit is engaging with Nigerian law enforcement to provide investigative assistance and training to help combat this threat, the statement reads.

While Director Wray claimed to be in Abuja to discuss the FBI’s work on transnational crime and terror threats with the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) and ONSA, the meeting has raised a potential conflict of interest, considering that an anti-redaction case involving the FOIA-ed American criminal records of Nigeria’s President’s is still currently in court.

The case seeks to remove the redactions on the recently-released FBI criminal investigation files concerning President Tinubu, whose extensive involvement in drug trafficking in the state of Illinois between the 1980s and early 1990s, led to a $460,000 drug money forfeiture to the US government.

It will be recalled that before Nigeria’s 2023 general elections, Plainsite founder Aaron Greenspan filed an FOIA request in collaboration with West Africa Weekly founder David Hundeyin requesting the FBI, DEA, IRS, CIA, Department of State, and the US Attorneys Office to turn over their criminal investigation records regarding Tinubu. After initially stonewalling, the FBI eventually provided 5 batches of files about the investigation, with Tinubu’s name redacted almost entirely as a result of a “privacy exemption.”

It will also be recalled that the FBI’s failure to provide the full unredacted files when requested during the presidential election petition tribunal enabled the Supreme Court of Nigeria to deliver a ruling affirming Tinubu’s presidency of the world’s most populous black nation despite openly flouting nearly all of the legal requirements for the office. 

Read more: He Lost My Respect Already – Osimhen Replies Finidi

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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