The United States District Court of Columbia has rejected a request to compel the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to disclose information concerning President Bola Tinubu.
This request was made by Aaron Greenspan, who filed an emergency motion seeking the immediate release of documents.
Greenspan’s urgency stemmed from the pending appeals hearing in the Nigerian Supreme Court involving presidential candidates Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who are challenging Tinubu’s presidency.
Greenspan argued that these documents were essential for the Supreme Court proceedings.
He claimed that the Supreme Court deliberately rescheduled the appeals hearing to October 23, which could undermine his case in the U.S. court.
He requested that the documents related to Tinubu be provided to him by October 31.
Judge Beryl A. Howell declined Greenspan’s request, citing his failure to meet the necessary conditions for an emergency hearing, as outlined in the motion he submitted on Monday.
In a related civil suit with number: 23-1816, Greenspan is also asking for similar information and documents on Mueez Adegboyega Akande, who is said to have died as of November 16, 2022.
The U.S. court’s decision to deny immediate document release was based on Greenspan’s inability to convince the court that public interests outweighed President Tinubu’s privacy rights.
Meanwhile, Tinubu’s lawyers have filed a motion at the court seeking to be allowed to defend the President in the suit.