Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.), has urged Nigerians to reject what he described as foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs amid renewed legal proceedings over the possible release of decades-old US investigative records linked to President Bola Tinubu.
Buratai made the call in a position paper titled “Nigeria First: A Case for Protecting National Sovereignty and Dignity – A Patriotic and Non-Partisan Perspective,” which he shared on his verified Facebook page on Sunday.
His intervention comes as a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case in the United States continues to attract attention over records relating to an old investigation associated with Tinubu.
Recent reports indicate that US District Judge Beryl Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted the FBI permission to submit certain disputed materials to the court privately for an in-camera review—a process in which a judge examines documents privately to determine whether they can legally be withheld from public disclosure.
The FBI has argued that some of the information cannot be fully explained in public because disclosure could reveal law-enforcement methods or potentially put individuals at risk. The agency subsequently sought permission to provide additional explanations to the judge privately.
The case stems from FOIA requests by US transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who has sought records from American law-enforcement agencies concerning historical investigations involving Tinubu. Reports say some of the requested materials relate to a Chicago-based heroin-trafficking investigation from the early 1990s.
President Tinubu has previously denied wrongdoing in connection with the allegations.
Against this backdrop, Buratai said Nigerians should not allow the controversy to undermine the country’s sovereignty, reputation or economic interests.
“This is not merely about Bola Tinubu—it is about 250 million Nigerians whose national pride, economic prospects, and global standing hang in the balance,” he stated.
The retired Army chief stressed that his position was not intended as a personal defence of Tinubu but as an appeal for Nigerians to place national interest above partisan considerations.
“This is not about defending Tinubu the individual; it is about defending Nigeria,” Buratai said.
He argued that questions concerning Nigerian leaders should be addressed through the country’s democratic and judicial institutions rather than allowing foreign legal proceedings to shape Nigeria’s national narrative.
Buratai also warned that prolonged international attention surrounding the allegations could affect Nigeria’s image and potentially influence perceptions of the country among investors and the international community.
He called on Nigerians to respond to the development with confidence rather than fear, insisting that the country’s sovereignty and dignity should remain paramount.
The latest court proceedings do not, by themselves, establish that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence. Rather, they concern the legal battle over access to historical US government records and whether portions of those records can be withheld under American law.
The FBI, the US Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Tinubu have reportedly been given August 28, 2026 as the latest deadline to oppose disclosure of the disputed records.
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