A US District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington D.C. has dismissed a plea for the immediate release of President Bola Tinubu’s sensitive data compiled by American law enforcement officials.
Aaron Greenspan, an American transparency campaigner, had filed a motion to compel the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and other U.S. agencies to promptly turn over information slated for publication by the end of October.
Greenspan filed the emergency request after Tinubu hired attorneys to resist the release, claiming that it would violate his privacy and other statutory rights.
He claimed Tinubu was attempting to delay the release of the records in order to avoid any influence the disclosures would have on the ongoing electoral dispute before the Nigerian Supreme Court.
However, in a ruling issued on Monday, Judge Beryl Howell refused the hearing to compel the prompt production of the records, stating that no hearing is required to establish the merits of the application.
In her decision, Judge Howell stated that Greenspan did not fully support his need for an urgent hearing on his application for accelerated release of records, particularly in light of the necessity to preserve Tinubu’s interests.
She ruled:
“Plaintiff has not made any representation to the court that the balance of equities tips in his favour or that the granting of his motion would further the public interest.
“Given that the FOIA request is for records that, if any exist, may be of a highly sensitive and private nature and that the subject of those documents, Bola A. Tinubu, has had no opportunity to protect his privacy interests in any such records, the balance of equities militates strongly in favour of denying this emergency motion.
“Plaintiff’s emergency motion for a hearing to compel immediate document production is denied. No hearing to determine the merits of this motion is necessary.”
The judge also granted President Tinubu’s plea that his counsel, Christopher Carmichael, be allowed to testify in the case.
She has not yet ruled on the President’s application to intervene in the case.
The US Department of Justice, represented by Matthew Graves, had previously stated that the government would not take a position on whether Tinubu should join the case or not.
“On behalf of the defendants, the undersigned counsel does not take a position as to whether the court should grant Bola Tinubu’s motion to intervene,” Graves said.
