A member of President Bola Tinubu’s legal team in the United States, Wole Afolabi (SAN), has pushed back against claims that his team is working to shield the president from damaging revelations, insisting their position is rooted strictly in US law.
Afolabi spoke during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, as a legal battle continues over the release of records tied to long-standing allegations linking Tinubu to drug trafficking.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria said the US government has already handed over some documents connected to the matter but is withholding portions it considers exempt under the Freedom of Information Act. He explained that the FBI and DEA have flagged concerns that fuller disclosure could put their agents, confidential informants, and investigative methods at risk.
According to him, failing to invoke these legal protections would amount to professional malpractice on the part of Tinubu’s lawyers.
“It will amount to professional malpractice on our part if we don’t take advantage of what the law offers,” he said.
Afolabi dismissed suggestions that the redactions were designed to personally protect Tinubu, arguing that the US government’s court filings centre on shielding agents, sources, and techniques rather than the Nigerian president.
“They are saying that if we discuss this publicly, we would compromise our agents; we would compromise the techniques that we use to get information,” he said, adding that concerns about exposing informants were also part of the calculation.
“They have sources, they have informants. They don’t want them to be compromised,” he said.
On the underlying drug trafficking allegations, Afolabi maintained that no evidence exists to support them. He argued that Tinubu would already have been indicted if US authorities had a solid case against him.
“If he was culpable, he simply would have been indicted. There’s no shortcut around it,” he said.
He further noted that being investigated does not equate to guilt.
“Anyone can be a subject of investigation. That’s just how it goes,” he said, stressing that the presumption of innocence still applies to Tinubu.
Afolabi, however, declined to detail Tinubu’s explanation for the $460,000 forfeited to the US government in the 1990s, citing attorney-client privilege.
“Unfortunately, I can’t divulge any information that my client had disclosed to me confidentially,” he said.
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