President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally joined a request by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) for an additional 10 days to respond to a motion seeking the release of records connected to allegations of drug trafficking.
Tinubu’s legal team filed a notice of joiner before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asking that the president’s response be placed on the same schedule as that of the government defendants.
The filing stated that Tinubu had joined the DOJ’s request for a 10-day extension to respond to the motion for summary judgment in the case.
The notice was signed by attorneys Christopher W. Carmichael and Victor P. Henderson of Henderson Parks, LLC. It indicated that the plaintiff opposed the extension, while the defendants did not.
However, the request was subsequently rejected by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, according to Von Batten-Montague-York, a U.S.-based policy advisory and lobbying firm working with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The firm disclosed the development in a post on X, alleging that Tinubu’s decision to join the extension request was an attempt to delay the proceedings.
It further claimed that the Nigerian president could use the additional time to lobby officials in Washington against the release of the records.
The allegations by the lobbying firm have not been established by the court, and no evidence presented in the filing itself shows that Tinubu sought the extension for that purpose.
The legal dispute forms part of the long-running case of Aaron Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Civil Action No. 23-1816 (BAH), which concerns requests for government records relating to Tinubu.
The records sought are connected to U.S. investigations and court proceedings dating back to the 1990s.
According to previously reported U.S. court documents, American authorities investigated a Chicago-based narcotics trafficking operation during that period. The investigation included financial accounts associated with Tinubu.
In 1993, a U.S. federal court ordered the forfeiture of $460,000 held in an account bearing Tinubu’s name. Court records described the money as proceeds of narcotics trafficking or as property involved in financial transactions that violated money-laundering laws.
Tinubu has repeatedly denied involvement in drug trafficking and has rejected allegations linking him to criminal activity.
His lawyers have also argued that the forfeiture proceeding was a civil in rem case, meaning the legal action was directed at the money involved rather than brought as a criminal prosecution against Tinubu personally.
They have maintained that Tinubu was never arrested, indicted, prosecuted or convicted of a drug-related offence in the United States.
The latest filing does not itself establish the allegations against Tinubu. The ongoing case concerns access to government records, while the underlying claims about his alleged involvement in narcotics activities remain disputed.
The court’s rejection of the requested extension means the parties will proceed according to the schedule set by the court.
