“BAT IS A RAT” BOMBSHELL: EX-US MAYOR CLAIMS TINUBU WAS FBI INFORMANT IN 1993 DRUG CASE, BACKS AGENCIES FOR HIDING HIS FILES

GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–A FORMER American Mayor has thrown a grenade into the raging controversy over President Bola Tinubu’s sealed FBI and CIA files — defending the US agencies while alleging Tinubu was an informant.

Mike Arnold, ex-Mayor of Blanco, Texas and founder of Africa Arise International, said the legal ground for withholding the records is “plausible,” but claimed the deeper reason is explosive: that Tinubu himself may have been a rat.

— “US Doesn’t Work Like Nigeria” —

Arnold argued that American law enforcement has a long history of protecting informants, suggesting that is why Tinubu’s 1993 case files remain under lock and key.

In a statement issued Saturday, Arnold addressed claims that the FBI, CIA, a judge, or even President Donald Trump had been paid to block the release.

“Re: Tinubu files, Nigerians need to understand the US doesn’t work like Nigeria. With all our flaws, we do have transparency and the rule of law. Not to say it is perfect, but it’s strong,” he said.

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“So no, nobody paid the FBI or CIA or the judge or Trump to block the release of the files. The legal reason they are stating is valid — not saying it’s accurate, but it is plausible: Release of the files would endanger lives — likely either informant(s) or undercover agents.”

—“It’s A Snitch. A Rat”—

Arnold then questioned who exactly is at risk 33 years after the case.

“And since that is the question, what is the answer? Whose life or lives are they afraid will be threatened if this information comes out? Seeing that we’re 33 years later, there’s zero chance it’s an undercover operative. So it’s a snitch. A rat,” he said.

He alleged that Tinubu was the one fighting the release of the files in court.

“And who is the one fighting the release? Tinubu himself. So it stands to reason that the way he got out of the heroin trafficking charges back in 1993 was not just forfeiting the $460k, but also ratting out others in the network,” Arnold alleged.

—“Big Operation Reaching South East Asia”—

The former mayor claimed the 1993 case was bigger than previously reported.

“This was a big operation, reaching into the South East Asian underworld — where people in power then are still in power now,” he said.

Arnold linked Tinubu’s departure from the US to subsequent American crackdowns, asking whether information allegedly provided by Tinubu fueled those operations.

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“Not long after Tinubu left the US, the US attacked those networks. Was it based on information Tinubu provided? If so, then yes, releasing the files may well put his life in danger,” he said.

He also raised the possibility that “prominent Nigerians” were named to US authorities.
“Did he turn over names of prominent Nigerians too? People who may back him now politically, unwittingly? That could prove fatal for him, too.”

Arnold summarised his position with a blunt phrase: “This is my working theory: BAT is a RAT.”

The controversy deepened after ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar* rejected the FBI’s justification for secrecy.

In a statement by his spokesman Phrank Shaibumķ Atiku said Nigerians were “already dying” under Tinubu’s economic policies.

“The irony of the FBI’s position would be laughable if the reality in Nigeria were not so tragic,” Atiku said, arguing that millions facing hardship and insecurity could not accept a blanket “danger to lives” claim to withhold records.

The US District Court in Columbia is still considering the FBI’s motion to file secret _ex parte in camera_ declarations on why the Tinubu records remain classified.