According to ex US mayor Mike Arnold in an official Facebook post on Saturday, August 22, 2026, he has backed the FBI’s decision not to release files linked to President Bola Tinubu.
Arnold said the decision was based on a plausible legal justification. He said releasing the files could endanger lives.
Arnold said the United States had stronger systems of transparency and the rule of law than Nigeria. He acknowledged that the system was not perfect. However, he dismissed claims that the FBI, CIA, a judge or former President Donald Trump had been paid to block the release of the files.
He said the legal argument centred on concerns that releasing the information could expose an informant or an undercover agent to danger. Arnold questioned whether an undercover operative could still be at risk more than 30 years after the events. He suggested that an informant was more likely to be involved.
Arnold then linked the matter to Tinubu’s legal troubles in the United States in 1993. He alleged that Tinubu may have provided information about members of a wider drug network. He suggested that such information could have played a role in the resolution of the case.
He partly wrote, “Not long after Tinubu left the US, the US attacked those networks. Was it based on information Tinubu provided? If so, then yes, releasing the files may well put his life in danger.”
He further speculated that information allegedly provided by Tinubu could have assisted US authorities in targeting the network after his departure from the country.
Arnold also raised the possibility that prominent Nigerians may have been identified. He presented the claims as his working theory and said the circumstances surrounding the files remained worthy of scrutiny.
COURTESY: MintyNews
