2027: APM demands publication of FBI report on Tinubu

The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has called on the United States authorities to make public the findings contained in Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records relating to President Bola Tinubu.

According to the party, Nigerians going to the polls in 2027 deserve leaders with clean and untainted records.

The party also urged the US authorities to release portions of the records that would not compromise the safety of witnesses, investigators or law enforcement techniques.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APM, Mr Abubakar Yusuf, made the call in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday.

Yusuf said the continued efforts to prevent the release of the records had heightened public suspicion, insisting that transparency was particularly important as Nigeria approached the 2027 presidential election.

“The APM urges the United States authorities to make public the findings in the report of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the drug-trafficking records allegedly linked to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he wrote.

Yusuf added, “The US authorities can release aspects of the report that will not endanger lives, expose witnesses, investigators or techniques used in the investigation.”

The party alleged that the Presidency’s reported efforts to prevent the disclosure of the records were fuelling suspicion of a possible cover-up, stating:

“Our party asserts that the sustained efforts by the Tinubu Presidency to block the release of the report to the public heighten suspicion of guilt and desperation for a cover-up.”

The controversy centres on records sought in the United States concerning investigations involving Tinubu dating back to the early 1990s. An American transparency activist, Aaron Greenspan, has been seeking the release of the FBI’s records through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

The FBI has argued that some of the information should remain confidential because disclosure could endanger individuals or reveal sensitive law-enforcement methods.

Tinubu’s legal team has also recently asked a US court to prevent the release of the records, arguing that disclosure could violate privacy protections.

Several media reports indicate that the matter is linked to a 1993 US civil forfeiture proceeding involving $460,000 in funds associated with Tinubu. The issue featured prominently in litigation arising from the 2023 presidential election.

However, the Presidential Election Petition Court held that the petitioners failed to establish that Tinubu had been criminally convicted in the United States, describing the forfeiture as a civil proceeding rather than a criminal sentence.

Yusuf said the controversy had regained prominence because President Tinubu is seeking a second term in office in 2027.

“The drug and other ancillary allegations against President Tinubu, who is a major contender in the 2027 presidential election, constitute a global issue which continues to harm Nigeria’s reputation among the comity of nations,” he said.

The APM also appealed to the United States to consider the wider implications of withholding information relating to the matter, noting that “the United States, being a leading democracy in the world, should at all times be seen to facilitate the consolidation of democracy and transparency in the international fight against drug trafficking and corruption.”

The party’s position is similar to that canvassed recently by a former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who urged the FBI to release any information concerning Tinubu that could legally be made public.

Atiku argued that the protection of confidential sources, investigative techniques and individuals should not become a blanket justification for withholding information that Nigerians had a legitimate interest in knowing, particularly ahead of the 2027 election.

Yusuf said Nigerians should be allowed to make an informed decision at the polls, urging the US authorities to assist the country in ensuring that the next president had no unresolved issues capable of damaging Nigeria’s international standing.

“Against the backdrop of the coming presidential election, the APM urges the United States authorities to assist Nigerians in their decision to elect a leader with clean records and not an individual encumbered by drug-related allegations and corruption cases,” he stated.

The party further argued that withholding the information could have implications for Nigeria’s “security, national integrity and democratic growth”, insisting that the US authorities could balance transparency with the need to protect sensitive operational information.