The District of Columbia Court in the United States on Monday rejected a request made by an American, Aaron Greenspan seeking an order to compel the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to release private documents and records of Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, and make them public.
Greenspan, the owner of PlainSite, a website that advocates data transparency to combat corruption in public service, had been in the forefront along with Nigerian investigative journalist, David Hundeyin and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar for the release of Tinubu’s records.
Greenspan had accused the law enforcement agencies of violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by not releasing the confidential information within the stipulated time.
Greenspan had in the application sought the court to compel the FBI, CIA, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and to hasten the release of Tinubu’s dossier.
But in a ruling on Monday, the court said the request by Greenspan was a reconsideration of an ealier ruling which showed he was merely seeking to reargue his position on which the court had already ruled.
While declining the request, the the District Judge, Beryl Howell said Greenspan did not meet the preconditions for granting a request of that nature.
Howell said the request “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 court noted that it was denying the motion on the ground that Tinubu had “privacy rights that should be considered” and would abide by the responses of the agencies which both asked the court to deny the plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration.
In its motion of rebuttal, the FBI said it would not make public any documents or information relating to Bola Tinubu, arguing that its position on the issue was based on Greenspan seeking to compel US security agencies to release some documents and information about Tinubu and one “Mueez Adegboyega Akande (deceased as of 11/16/2022).”
“The Court properly characterized that motion as a motion for a temporary restraining order and determined that plaintiff did not satisfy his burden of showing that he would succeed on the merits as to FOIA exemptions and irreparable injury is likely, and the balance of equities favor him or granting the motion would further the public interest because Tinubu has privacy interests that should be considered,” Howell said.