JEFFERY Guterman, a retired American mental health counselor, has disclosed that the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) dismissed the application he made seeking the release of a file containing information about President-elect Bola Tinubu.
In a social media post, Guterman said the FBI rejected his request on the grounds that disclosing the existence of files concerning third-party individuals would constitute an invasion of personal privacy.
The American had asked the FBI to shed more light on Tinubu’s $460,000 forfeiture, following a drug trafficking case he had in the United States of America in 1993.
According to Guterman, FBI said the request failed to comply with their terms of service.
However, he promised to consider his next plan of action, which he failed to disclose.
“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 confirmed nor denied by the FBI due to unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
“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 US.
“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.
“I will now consider my next plan of action,” Guterman wrote.
Guterman is a staunch supporter of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP).
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