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President Bola Tinubu’s legal team has acknowledged factual and drafting errors in an earlier court filing in the United States concerning records of a decades-old narcotics investigation, asking a federal judge for permission to correct the disputed passages while maintaining its original legal arguments.

The development emerged from a motion filed on October 1, 2026, before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit instituted by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan.

The case, Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys et al., Civil Action No. 23-1816 (BAH), centres on Greenspan’s efforts to compel U.S. government agencies to release records relating to Tinubu and an investigation dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In the motion titled “Motion to Amend Response Brief [DE 98],” Tinubu’s lawyers asked the court to authorise the replacement of their earlier response to Greenspan’s motion for summary judgment, citing errors in Part 1.c of the original filing.

The legal team admitted that the disputed section contained incorrect references to the year 1993, Tinubu’s public office and a comparison involving student enrolment.

According to the lawyers, their central argument was that the investigative events between 1988 and 1992 occurred decades before Tinubu was elected President of Nigeria.

However, they conceded that the argument had been presented “inadequately and incorrectly” in relation to the references to public office and 1993.

The lawyers also acknowledged a separate mistake in a comparison between the age of the investigative records and a student-enrolment event, explaining that the enrolment event had actually occurred before the historical events under discussion.

“Both issues occurred during the drafting and revising process by the undersigned counsel, occurred unintendedly, and were not found and edited prior to filing,” the motion stated.

They further disclosed that Greenspan had identified both errors in his subsequent reply to the earlier court submission.

Despite admitting the mistakes, Tinubu’s legal representatives insisted that the corrections would not alter the substance of their defence.

“In the proposed amended response, the substance of the argument in part 1.c remains unchanged,” they stated.

Their position is that Tinubu’s privacy interests in records concerning events from decades ago should remain protected, notwithstanding his subsequent emergence as Nigeria’s president.

The legal team also informed the court that it had consulted Greenspan and his lawyers about the proposed corrections before submitting the motion.

According to the filing, Greenspan did not oppose the correction of the brief, paving the way for the request to be considered without opposition from the plaintiff.

Tinubu’s lawyers consequently urged the court to permit the amended response to replace the earlier filing, identified as Document 98. They also submitted a proposed order for the judge’s consideration.

However, the attached order was clearly marked as a proposed document and contained a blank space for the judge’s signature. The filing therefore does not establish that the court had approved the request as of the date of submission.

The amended response also reiterates Tinubu’s opposition to Greenspan’s demand for additional records from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Among other arguments, the President’s lawyers contend that the disputed information is protected under the law-enforcement privacy exemption of the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act.

They maintain that the records concern events that took place long before Tinubu assumed the presidency and argue that his current position does not automatically extinguish his privacy rights.

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 38-year-old businessman, Philip Tunde, attempting to smuggle 4.8 kilogrammes of cocaine to Milan, Italy, with the illicit substance concealed in the soles of shoes and the railings of travel bags.

The arrest was part of a series of nationwide anti-drug operations that also led to the interception of drug consignments worth more than N5 billion at seaports in Lagos and Rivers states, the destruction of over 20 tonnes of cannabis in Osun State and the recovery of various illicit substances across several states.

Tunde was arrested on Sunday, September 27, 2026, at the joint screening point of Terminal 2 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, while preparing to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan.

A detailed search by NDLEA operatives uncovered 16 parcels of cocaine concealed in the soles of eight pairs of trainers and canvas shoes, alongside 195 wraps of the same substance hidden in the railings of four travel bags.

The seized drugs, which tested positive for cocaine, weighed a total of 4.8kg.

During interrogation, the suspect reportedly claimed he had paid N16 million in cash for the cocaine hidden in the shoes. He also disclosed that the consignment concealed in the travel bags was intended for delivery to his business partner in Italy.

Tunde allegedly said he raised the money from compensation he received following an industrial accident at a plastic manufacturing company in Italy, where he lost the tips of two fingers.

NDLEA intercepts N5bn drug shipments at Lagos, Onne ports

In a major crackdown on international drug trafficking networks, NDLEA operatives at the Apapa, Tincan Island and Onne seaports intercepted multiple consignments of cannabis, codeine-based cough syrup and other illicit substances valued at more than N5 billion.

At the Apapa Port in Lagos, officers acting on intelligence subjected two containers shipped from Bangkok, Thailand, to a 100 per cent physical examination alongside Nigeria Customs Service personnel and other stakeholders.

The operation, which yielded results on September 3, led to the discovery of 161 parcels of Thai Loud, weighing 124kg and valued at N372 million.

The cannabis was cleverly concealed inside two refrigerators and two cartons.

At the Onne Port in Rivers State, NDLEA operatives, working with Customs and other security agencies, searched two containers placed under surveillance following intelligence reports.

The examination uncovered 40 packs of Loud weighing 22kg, hidden in a travel bag and inside three vehicles — a Toyota Matrix, Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Elantra — among five vehicles shipped in one of the containers.

The second container contained 109,600 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup weighing 16,440kg.

Investigators discovered that the container had been shipped from India to Saudi Arabia, where its origin history was allegedly altered to evade detection before the consignment was moved onward.

The seized Loud and codeine consignments at Onne were estimated to have a combined street value of N833.2 million.

Meanwhile, another major seizure was recorded at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos on Tuesday, September 29, following a joint examination of a container from Montreal, Canada, which had been placed on the agency’s watch list.

The operation led to the recovery of 2,595 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 1,297.5kg and valued at more than N3.8 billion.

The cannabis was concealed inside a Toyota Sienna and a Hyundai Elantra, alongside 24 blue drums and six jumbo bags found in the container.

NDLEA destroys 20 tonnes of cannabis in Osun forest

In Osun State, NDLEA operatives destroyed 20,234kg of cannabis, popularly known as skunk, during an operation targeting an extensive cannabis plantation covering 8.0936 hectares in

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Watch moment monarchs in Etche LG presenting the symbolic Traditional Kola to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, at the ongoing Town Hal
Interactive Meeting with the Ogbakor Etche and other stakeholders in Etche LG, Rivers State, today.

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