President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has joined the United States Department of Justice in seeking more time to respond in a federal case over records linked to a decades-old investigation involving him.
His lawyers filed a Notice of Joinder on Monday, backing the Justice Department’s request for a 10-day extension and asking that his response follow the government’s timetable.
The case, filed under the Freedom of Information Act by US transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan, is before the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Greenspan is seeking records from US agencies concerning investigations dating to the early 1990s.
US District Judge Beryl A. Howell granted only four additional days, setting August 21, 2026, as the response deadline.
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The records sought include material from the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration concerning an alleged international drug-trafficking and money-laundering investigation.
The case has drawn attention over a 1993 civil forfeiture involving about $460,000 associated with Tinubu. The forfeiture has featured in allegations linking him to narcotics proceeds, which he has denied.
Tinubu has not been convicted of drug trafficking in the US. The forfeiture proceeding was civil and did not constitute a criminal conviction.
In April 2025, Howell ruled that the FBI and DEA could not rely on “Glomar” responses to neither confirm nor deny the existence of responsive records, ordering them to process material not otherwise exempt from disclosure.
The case concerns access to government records under US freedom-of-information law, not a criminal prosecution of Tinubu.