Date: September 29, 2026
Reporter: Emilly Jordan
American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan has asked a federal court in Washington, D.C., for permission to question Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and obtain records from a U.S. lobbying firm representing the Nigerian government, as part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit involving records sought from U.S. agencies.
Greenspan filed the request in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where he is pursuing a case against U.S. government agencies over records relating to historical investigations involving Tinubu. The latest application also concerns alleged cyberattacks against Greenspan's legal-research website, PlainSite, which he says occurred while the litigation was developing.
Greenspan is asking the court to allow him to serve six interrogatories, four requests for admission and one request for production on Tinubu, who is participating in the case as an intervenor. He is also seeking a subpoena for records from DCI Group AZ, LLC, a Washington-based lobbying firm that has represented the Nigerian government.
The requested records concern communications involving Greenspan, PlainSite, the FOIA lawsuit, an August 5 social-media post and alleged distributed-denial-of-service attacks against his website. Greenspan argues that the material could help establish what parties knew about the attacks and whether anyone connected to the litigation communicated about them.
The filings do not establish that Tinubu ordered, authorized or participated in any cyberattack against Greenspan or his website. Greenspan himself acknowledges that a correlation between the timing of the attacks and developments in the litigation does not establish who was responsible. No court has made a finding that Tinubu or the Nigerian government directed the alleged attacks.
According to Greenspan's filing, the most serious period of website disruption occurred between August 6 and August 9, shortly after an X account managed by DCI Group on behalf of Nigeria posted criticism of him. He says the attacks continued around subsequent filings and government-related activity before stopping after August 31.
DCI Group is registered under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of the Republic of Nigeria through Aster Legal. Documents cited in the litigation reportedly show that the firm was retained in December 2025 and received an agreement involving payments of $750,000 per month, with an initial six-month payment of $4.5 million. The disclosed work includes communications concerning Nigeria's efforts to address security issues and maintain U.S. support in combating jihadist groups.
Greenspan is also seeking records from DCI Group concerning any communications about him, PlainSite, the lawsuit or the alleged cyberattacks. His request would give him access to material that he argues could help determine whether the firm or others monitored his litigation activity or discussed efforts affecting his website.
The broader lawsuit began after Greenspan submitted FOIA requests to several U.S. agencies seeking records relating to Tinubu, Nigerian businessman Abiodun Agbele and other individuals. The litigation concerns historical U.S. law-enforcement records, including material connected to investigations from the 1990s. Greenspan has asked the FBI, DEA and Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys to disclose records that he says relate to those investigations.
A separate and ongoing dispute in the case concerns whether U.S. agencies may continue withholding portions of the records under FOIA exemptions protecting privacy, law-enforcement information and government communications.
In a proposed sur-reply filed in September, Greenspan challenged the government's handling of the public-interest analysis used to justify withholding some records. He argued that the relevant public interest concerns what disclosure could reveal about the conduct of U.S. government agencies rather than whether Tinubu himself ever held public office in the United States.
The case has also involved previous disputes over so-called Glomar responses, under which government agencies neither confirm nor deny whether particular investigative records exist. In an April 2025 ruling, Judge Beryl A. Howell rejected FBI and DEA Glomar responses concerning Tinubu in the circumstances presented, finding that the agencies had not established that the privacy interests asserted outweighed the public interest in disclosure. The ruling did not order the wholesale release of all records sought by Greenspan.
The Nigerian presidency has previously emphasized that the proceedings are a civil FOIA dispute rather than a criminal prosecution of Tinubu. Government officials have also argued that the existence of the lawsuit should not be interpreted as meaning that Tinubu is on trial in the United States.
The latest request therefore adds another dimension to the long-running records dispute, with Greenspan seeking direct responses from Tinubu and documentary evidence from a firm representing Nigeria. Whether the court permits the proposed questions and subpoena will be determined by Judge Howell as the FOIA litigation continues.
The filings themselves do not establish that Tinubu or his agents were responsible for the alleged cyberattacks, nor do they constitute a criminal finding against the Nigerian president. The underlying FOIA case remains pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.