Ahead of the October deadline slated for the release of his files by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), President Bola Tinubu has reportedly commenced moves to block the records from being released by the US intelligence agency and others.Court filings according to the Peoples Gazette, showed Mr Tinubu’s lawyers in the US have filed motions to appear in an ongoing freedom of information action lodged against the US organisations where records that may help answer questions about his real identity and decades-long endeavours are kept.
Christopher Carmichael, one of the lawyers who represented Mr Tinubu in the recent Chicago records case, filed the motion, dated October 18, 2023, stating that he was a lawyer in good standing to appear in the case in the FOIA lawsuit underway in Washington D.C., filings said.Fidelity Leaderboard“Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 83.2(c), Bryan A. Carey moves for the admission and appearance of attorney Christopher Carmichael pro hac vice in the above-entitled action,” Mr Carey, who practices in D.C., said on Mr Carmichael’s behalf. “This motion is supported by the Declaration of Christopher Carmichael. As set forth in Mr. Carmichael’s declaration, he is admitted and an active member in good standing.”Though, what informed Mr Tinubu’s expectation that he could block US agencies from complying with federal disclosure regulations remained unclear
Mr Carmichael did not immediately return a request seeking comments, and the president’s lead lawyer in the US, Oluwole Afolabi, told The Gazette he could not comment on the case until it has officially commenced.
The lawyers would work to file a full argument soonest in order to stand a chance of being able to argue any reliefs before the October 31 deadline.On September 11, the FBI had agreed to turn over 2,500 pages of response information on the Nigerian president. Tinubu was previously investigated for narcotics trafficking in the US in the 1990s, during which he was compelled to forfeit $460,000 via a federal court order in Chicago.
