In a new twist, Aaron Greenspan, founder of plainsite.org, has filed a motion in the United States in the ongoing FOIA lawsuit requesting the immediate release of Bola Tinubu’s criminal records from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Recall that Parallel Facts reported that the FBI would release thousands of records of Bola Ahmed Tinubu in their jurisdiction by the end of October.
Documents posted on Friday by @David Hundeyin, a well-grounded investigative journalist, revealed the filed motion of Aaron Greenspan via his official X handle.
With not more than 10 days until the end of October, Aaron Greenspan, the initiator of the ongoing FOIA, has requested that the FBI release the documents with immediate effect.
The motion was filed on Friday as obtained by Parallel Facts.
This comes amid the dramatic and sudden rush by the Supreme Court to expedite the process.
Aaron in the motion, explained that the Presidency of Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Nigeria is a “hotcake and one not to take with levity”, most especially with the decision of the Supreme Court to “front-run the release of responsive FOIA documents”.
He also maintained that the documents would directly influence the proceedings.
The motion reads, “This lawsuit concerns a number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests about Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is recognised by many as the current President of Nigeria. Mr. Tinubu had a role in the early 1990s in laundering money for a heroin ring in Chicago. The FOIA requests at issue in this case largely involve documents that more fully describe his role in that criminal enterprise.
“Mr. Tinubu’s 2023 election to the Nigerian presidency is hotly contested. According to The New York Times, “A judicial tribunal in Nigeria confirmed on Wednesday [September 6, 2023] the results of a contested February presidential election that kept Africa’s most populous country on edge amid allegations of voting irregularities and tainted the first months in power for the declared winner, President Bola Tinubu.
“See “Nigerian Court Rejects Challenges to Contested Presidential Election” by Elian Peltier, September 6, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/06/world/africa/nigeria-decision-presidential-election.html. While the same New York Times article also reported that “the plaintiffs have 60 days to file an appeal to Nigeria’s Supreme Court,” in the past 24 hours, the timeline of events appears to have accelerated dramatically in Nigeria. Id”.
“The Nigerian Supreme Court now plans to begin hearing arguments regarding the circumstances of Mr. Tinubu’s election on Monday, October 23, 2023. The sudden advance in timing appears intended to front-run the release of responsive FOIA documents from the defendants in this action, and especially the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Those documents would likely be directly relevant to the foreign proceedings in Nigeria.
“Through the defendants’ counsel, the plaintiff made the defendants aware of the foreign proceedings in Nigeria in September 2023. The defendants acknowledged the unique circumstances in this case and affirmed that documents would be produced as they became available. No documents have been produced thus far.
“Attached to this motion as Exhibit A is a document that purports to be a scheduling order relevant to these matters issued by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 7(m), Plaintiff attempted to discuss this matter by e-mail and phone with Attorney Littman, but he responded that he is on leave today.
“In light of the above, Plaintiff requests a remote Zoom (or similar) hearing at the Court’s earliest convenience—and ideally, on Monday, October 23, 2023—to discuss even the most remote possibility of documents being produced before October 31, 2023, chosen by defendants for themselves”.
