President Bola Tinubu has thrown his weight behind the U.S. Justice Department’s bid to buy more time before handing over documents tied to long-standing drug trafficking allegations. His legal team filed a notice of joinder in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asking to be aligned with the defendants’ schedule in the case.
The filing, made public by Von Batten-Montague-York, a U.S. policy advisory firm working for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, shows Tinubu’s lawyers formally joining a motion for a 10-day extension to respond to a summary judgment request. The notice, signed by Christopher W. Carmichael and Victor P. Henderson of Henderson Parks, LLC, states that the intervenor wants responses to remain on the same timeline as the defendants.
The plaintiff opposed the extension, while the defendant did not, according to the filing. But U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ultimately denied the request, the lobbying firm reported.
Von Batten-Montague-York took to X to accuse Tinubu of using the delay tactic to wield political influence in Washington. The firm alleged that the extra time would allow Tinubu to lobby U.S. officials against releasing the records, arguing that disclosure could damage U.S.-Nigeria relations and his cooperation with Washington on security issues. It also warned against any attempts by U.S. government officials to meddle with the judicial or Freedom of Information Act process.
The case, Aaron Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, et al., Civil Action No. 23-1816 (BAH), has dragged on for over three years. The records sought relate to U.S. investigations and allegations involving Tinubu and suspected drug-trafficking activities.
Past reports have tied a $460,000 asset forfeiture involving Tinubu to a federal probe into a Chicago-based heroin-trafficking network in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Court records and affidavits from U.S. authorities have been cited in connection with the forfeiture proceedings.
In 1993, a U.S. District Court ordered the forfeiture of $460,000 held in an account under Tinubu’s name to the U.S. government, stating the funds were proceeds of narcotics trafficking or involved in transactions violating money-laundering laws.
Tinubu has consistently denied any wrongdoing and rejected allegations of drug trafficking. His lawyers have maintained that the forfeiture was an in rem civil action against the money, not a criminal case against him. They have also argued that he was never arrested, indicted, arraigned, or convicted of a drug offense in the United States.
