DRUG RECORDS SAGA: TINUBU JOINS US DOJ TO SEEK 10-DAY DELAY AS JUDGE DENIES REQUEST
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has joined the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in asking for more time to respond to a suit seeking the release of records linked to alleged drug trafficking investigations.
Tinubu’s legal team filed a Notice of Joinder before the US District Court for the District of Columbia, asking the court to keep the President on the same timeline as the defendants.
The filing was made public online by Von Batten-Montague-York, a US-based policy advisory and lobbying firm said to have been retained by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
In the filing, Tinubu’s lawyers, Christopher W. Carmichael and Victor P. Henderson of Henderson Parks, LLC, stated:
> “Intervenor joins Defendants’ motion for a 10-day extension of time to file response to the motion for summary judgment.”
According to the document, the plaintiff opposed the extension request, while the defendants did not.
However, presiding Judge, Justice Beryl Howell, has subsequently denied the request for extension, as the high-stakes legal battle over the records continues to generate political ripples back home.
Following the court’s decision, Von Batten-Montague-York accused Tinubu of attempting to use the additional time to exert political influence in Washington.
The firm alleged that Tinubu could use the delay to lobby US officials against releasing the records, potentially arguing that disclosure could affect US-Nigeria relations and security cooperation.
It also raised concerns about what it described as attempts by US government officials to interfere with the judicial or Freedom of Information Act process.
The case, Aaron Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, et al., Civil Action No. 23-1816 (BAH), has been pending for more than three years.
What the records concern
The records sought in the litigation relate to US investigations and allegations concerning Tinubu and suspected drug-trafficking activities.
Previous reports have connected a $460,000 asset forfeiture involving Tinubu to a US federal investigation into a Chicago-based heroin-trafficking network dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In 1993, a US District Court ordered the forfeiture of $460,000 held in an account in Tinubu’s name to the US government. The order stated that the funds represented proceeds of narcotics trafficking or were involved in transactions violating money-laundering laws.
Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing and rejected allegations that he was involved in drug trafficking.
His lawyers have maintained that the forfeiture was a civil in rem proceeding against the money rather than a criminal prosecution against Tinubu.
They have also argued that the president was never arrested, indicted, arraigned or convicted of a drug offence in the United States.
SOURCE==AFRICAN NEWS DIGEST ==EXCEPT THE HEADLINE AND INTRO PLUS A FEW PARAGRAPHS
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