Reno Omokri, the Ambassador-designate of Nigeria to Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is challenging the release of records held by United States law enforcement agencies because they may contain private, non-criminal information that he would not want made available to his political opponents.
Omokri said the FBI could have records bearing Tinubu’s name without those documents amounting to criminal records.
He argued that, just as an individual would not ordinarily want private records released to political opponents even when they contain no evidence of criminal conduct, Tinubu should not be expected to allow potentially sensitive personal information to be made public simply because it is held by a US law enforcement agency.
Omokri made the argument in a post on X on Monday while responding to reports and political claims surrounding the ongoing legal battle over the release of the records.
He disputed reports suggesting that the FBI had released Tinubu’s “criminal records” to a US judge, describing the characterisation as misleading.
According to him, FBI databases contain extensive non-criminal information on US citizens, residents and foreign nationals. He said such records can be generated through routine background checks, including screenings conducted for people applying for US visas.
Omokri said records held by the FBI could contain biometric, biographical and financial information, including fingerprints, DNA, bank statements and other private data, and argued that the existence of such records does not establish criminal conduct.
He also challenged claims that the FBI has criminal records concerning Tinubu, referring to correspondence he said was exchanged between the US Embassy and Nigeria’s then Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, in February 2003.
According to Omokri, Balogun had sought information from the US Embassy about any FBI criminal records involving Tinubu, who was then governor of Lagos State, and received a response the following day clearing him of any such records.
He said the claim was also consistent with his own findings after travelling to Chicago, Illinois, between September 18 and 20, 2022, to investigate allegations concerning Tinubu’s academic and other records while he was a member of the opposition.
Omokri said his investigation led him to conclude that claims that Tinubu had a criminal record were unfounded.
He wrote, “Does The FBI Have Any Criminal Record on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
“Recently, the media has been awash with sponsored reports and headlines claiming that the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has released so-called “criminal records” of His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to a U.S. judge, Honourable Howell Beryl, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“These reports have since been amplified on social and traditional media by the President’s political opponents, who have further asserted that the President is fighting to keep those records from the public.
“These claims are untrue, and these individuals and their surrogates are using clever semantics to deceive the public.
“Unlike some of these groups and media organisations, I physically went to Chicago, Illinois, between September 18 and 20, 2022, to investigate these claims and found them to be fallacious.
“President Bola Tinubu has no criminal record in the United States, Nigeria, or anywhere else, and the FBI has not provided any criminal record on the President to anyone because none exists.
“Yes, FBI records may contain his name, but they are NOT criminal records.
“Please fact-check me: The US FBI regularly keeps billions of non-criminal files on American citizens and residents, as well as foreign nationals, through the FBI’s Central Records Systems and Next Generation Identification database.
“For example, if you have ever applied for a US visa, the FBI likely has a record on you. This is because the FBI conducts MANDATORY background screenings on behalf of the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security on US visa applicants.
“Thus, as a US citizen or resident, or even as a foreign national, if your name is run through the FBI databases, it is likely to bring up hundreds of pages of records. This does not mean that the records are criminal. In most cases, they will be benign.
“Such records may include personal biometric, biographical, and financial information, such as fingerprints, DNA, bank statements, and other private records.
“Would you, as an individual, want your private records released to your political opponents, even if they were non-criminal?
“However, on the specific issue of criminal records, the Nigerian public should be made aware that the FBI has itself stated that it has no CRIMINAL records involving Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
“This was made known as far back as Monday, February 3, 2003, when the then Governor of Lagos, Mr Bola Tinubu, was having political issues with the then incumbent President. The then Inspector General of Police, Mr Tafa Balogun, wrote to the Embassy of the United States, seeking information on any FBI criminal records involving Mr Bola Tinubu, and got a response back the next day from them giving the all clear as regards any criminal records involving Mr Tinubu.
“This was consistent with my findings when I visited Chicago in 2022, as a member of the opposition, to establish the truth about then-Presidential candidate Bola Tinubu’s academic and other records.
“Nigerians may want to find attached the response from the Embassy of the United States absolving the then-Governor of Lagos of any wrongdoing or criminal conduct, charges, or activity whatsoever.
“Those who may question the authenticity of this document may also wish to contact the US Embassy in Abuja or Lagos for clarification.
“The US Embassy in Abuja may be contacted via ConsularAbuja@state.gov.”
The comments followed an explanation by Wole Afolabi, SAN, a legal counsel to Tinubu, on why the President was challenging the release of records held by US law enforcement agencies in connection with historical investigations involving him.
Afolabi said during an interview with Channels Television on Sunday that Tinubu’s legal challenge was within his rights under US law.
He argued that allegations against the President were speculative and that the Freedom of Information Act was not intended to serve as a means of obtaining personal information about political candidates.
The case is part of a longstanding legal dispute in the United States over records connected to historical investigations involving Tinubu.
American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against several US government agencies, including the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration, seeking records relating to investigations involving the Nigerian President.
The lawsuit, filed at the US District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks FBI files and interview records connected to investigations dating back to the early 1990s.
Some of the requested records have been linked to allegations surrounding a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding involving approximately $460,000. Tinubu has denied wrongdoing in connection with the allegations.
The legal dispute intensified after the FBI indicated that it had records responsive to Greenspan’s FOIA request.
The bureau then asked the court for permission to submit some of the material privately, arguing that releasing parts of the records could expose law-enforcement techniques and potentially endanger individuals.
A US judge subsequently allowed the FBI to submit sensitive material for private judicial review, meaning the court could examine the documents without making them public at that stage.
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