Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has stepped up pressure on the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, urging the agency to release all records concerning President Bola Tinubu that can legally be made public while protecting investigators, confidential sources and sensitive intelligence methods.
Atiku’s intervention followed the FBI’s request to a United States District Court in the District of Columbia for permission to privately explain why it is withholding portions of records connected to investigations involving the Nigerian President.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku argued that legitimate security concerns should not become grounds for withholding information that American law permits the public to access.
The FBI, in an August 20 application, sought approval to submit declarations ex parte and in camera — a legal procedure that would allow the agency to present its explanations confidentially to the judge without publicly disclosing sensitive details.
According to the agency, openly stating all the reasons for withholding portions of the records could expose sensitive information and potentially put lives at risk.
Atiku, however, maintained that the FBI could protect its personnel, sources and investigative techniques through appropriate redactions without blocking access to records that do not fall under legally protected exemptions.
He urged the American agency to safeguard undercover operatives, confidential informants and legitimate investigative methods, but warned that such protections should not be extended beyond what the law requires.
Atiku said the central issue was not whether sensitive information deserved protection, but whether information capable of being lawfully disclosed was being unnecessarily kept from public scrutiny.
“The FBI says disclosure could endanger lives, but Nigerians are already suffering and dying as a result of the hardship caused by the Tinubu administration’s economic policies,” Atiku said.
“The FBI says disclosure could endanger lives. Which lives? Nigerians are already dying,” he added.
The former vice-president tied his argument to the worsening economic pressures facing Nigerian households, particularly following the removal of the petrol subsidy.
He said increases in fuel prices had triggered higher transportation costs, pushed up food prices, raised production expenses and intensified pressure on businesses and employment.
“Fuel affects transportation. Transportation affects food prices. Energy affects production. Production affects jobs. All of them determine whether an ordinary Nigerian family can survive until the end of the month,” Atiku said.
He stressed that his demand should not be interpreted as a call for the FBI to compromise its operations or expose individuals whose safety depends on confidentiality.
Rather, Atiku said the agency should separate legitimately protected material from records that can be released under United States law, with sensitive portions appropriately redacted.
“This is not an attempt to interfere in Nigeria’s politics. It is a humanitarian and democratic appeal because Nigerians have the right to access information that can legitimately be made public about those who exercise enormous power over their lives,” he said.
Atiku maintained that transparency surrounding the background and conduct of public office holders was particularly important where such individuals wield enormous authority over millions of citizens.
He therefore urged the FBI and the US court handling the matter to carefully distinguish between information whose disclosure could genuinely compromise lives or investigations and material that could be released without undermining legitimate law-enforcement interests.
The former vice-president’s latest intervention adds a fresh political dimension to the long-running public interest surrounding records held by American law-enforcement agencies concerning Tinubu, placing the debate once again at the intersection of privacy, investigative secrecy, transparency and the public’s right to know.
For Atiku, however, the principle remains straightforward: protect genuine secrets, protect lives and preserve lawful investigative methods — but release whatever the law allows the public to see.
