The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has rejected a request by Jeffrey Guterman, a retired American mental health counselor, to release a file on Nigeria’s President-elect Bola Tinubu.
Guterman disclosed the development in a tweet on Friday, May 5, 2023 stating that his request was denied because the FBI would neither confirm nor deny the existence of files on third-party individuals due to unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
See below a copy of the letter I received today from the @FBI regarding my request, based on the Freedom of Information Act, for the FBI file on Bola Tinubu.
My request was rejected because, according to the FBI, the existence of files on third-party individuals will neither be… pic.twitter.com/3URLncjQFp
— Dr. Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) May 5, 2023
“My request was rejected because, according to the FBI, the existence of files on third-party individuals will neither be confirmed or denied by the FBI due to unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” Guterman wrote.
“I found it noteworthy that in my online submission, I referred to Tinubu as “Bola Tinubu,” but in their letter the FBI referred to him as TINUBU, BOLA AHMED. How would the FBI access the Ahmed part of his name?
“Again, I did not provide the Ahmed part of his name in my submission. Moreover, it is public knowledge that the FBI has a file on Tinubu for his $460,000 forfeiture to the U.S.
“The letter also states that if I received their response through standard mail (which I did), this is because my online submission did not meet their terms of service.
“According to the letter, my options are to (1) submit any questions by email or call their office, (2) administratively appeal their decision within 90 days of the date of their letter, and/or (3) seek dispute resolution by email,” he added.
Last month, Guterman filed a request asking the FBI to release records about Tinubu’s $460,000 forfeiture on drug trafficking in the US. However, the FBI informed Guterman that his request submission did not meet their terms of service.
According to the letter, Guterman has three options: submit any questions by email or call the FBI office, administratively appeal their decision within 90 days of the date of their letter, and/or seek dispute resolution by email.
Guterman stated, “I will now consider my next plan of action.”
Jeffrey Guterman, 65, is a retired psychotherapist based in Miami Beach, Florida with over a 100 publications under his belt. He is a staunch supporter of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party and has held a number of Twitter Spaces to discuss developments in the 2023 presidential race.
