The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has asked a federal court in Washington, D.C., to allow it to privately explain why it is withholding parts of investigative records relating to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In an application dated August 20, 2026, the FBI asked the US District Court for the District of Columbia for permission to submit an ex parte, in camera declaration explaining the full basis for withholding certain records sought under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The bureau said it could not publicly disclose all the reasons because doing so could reveal law-enforcement investigative techniques and procedures and could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of an individual.

The FBI said it had invoked FOIA exemptions 6, 7(C), 7(D), 7(E) and 7(F) in responding to requests for records relating to Tinubu, including a request for his entire FBI file and another seeking FBI Form 302 interview records from an FBI case covering 1992–1993.

The records are being sought by Aaron Greenspan, founder of PlainSite, in connection with investigations into a Chicago heroin ring that operated in the early 1990s.

Greenspan filed 12 FOIA requests with six US federal agencies in 2022 and 2023 concerning four individuals he alleged were associated with the investigation, including Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande and Abiodun Agbele.

The agencies initially issued so-called Glomar responses, declining to confirm or deny whether responsive records existed.

Greenspan challenged the responses and subsequently filed a lawsuit in June 2023.

In April 2025, US District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration had improperly relied on Glomar responses and ordered them to process non-exempt records.

The judge held that the agencies had failed to establish a sufficient privacy interest to justify keeping secret the fact that Tinubu was allegedly a subject of a criminal investigation.

The FBI said it needed to submit its detailed explanation privately because revealing the basis for invoking exemptions 7(E) and 7(F) publicly could itself expose protected investigative methods or information capable of putting individuals at risk.

If permitted, the bureau said it would submit the sealed declaration before August 28.

The development comes as the US Department of Justice and Tinubu’s legal team have separately sought additional time to respond to a court order concerning the records.

Judge Howell reportedly granted the DOJ only a four-day extension, rather than the 10 days requested, and declined Tinubu’s request for a longer extension.

The current dispute is therefore focused on which portions of the FBI records can legally be withheld and which must be released, with the court expected to determine the validity of the bureau’s latest claims for secrecy.