Dear Mike Arnold,
I understand your commitment to Nigeria over the years, and I sincerely appreciate your efforts and concern for the country. I also understand why it may sound unbelievable to you that the FBI could be complicit, directly or indirectly, in the controversy surrounding the records relating to Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
But let us look at the matter objectively.
There is no convincing public-interest justification, in my view, for records relating to a decades-old investigation to remain shrouded in secrecy indefinitely, particularly when there is a continuing and legitimate public interest in understanding what those records contain.
The fundamental question is this: Why should the world’s most powerful democracy, a country that consistently presents itself as a champion of transparency, justice and the rule of law, be involved in a prolonged dispute over the disclosure of historical records concerning a foreign political leader?
The longer the secrecy continues, the more questions it creates.
Nigeria offers the world a painful lesson in what happens when citizens repeatedly dismiss legitimate questions about their leaders because they find the allegations difficult to believe. We were once a country where corruption and abuse of public office could provoke serious consequences. Over time, however, the culture of defending leaders at all costs helped create the crisis we face today.
That is why I urge you not to dismiss the concerns surrounding the Tinubu files simply because some of the allegations may sound unbelievable.
Ask yourself another question: Why was Nicolás Maduro subjected to extraordinary pressure and ultimately arrested by the United States, while the same U.S. government under President Donald Trump is now at the centre of a continuing controversy over the FBI’s resistance to releasing historical records concerning Tinubu?
The comparison deserves scrutiny, even if the two cases are legally and factually different.
America’s credibility rests not merely on its military or economic power, but on the strength of its institutions and its commitment to equal justice. If justice appears negotiable when powerful individuals are involved, public confidence in those institutions inevitably suffers.
And this is bigger than Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
It is about whether powerful institutions can be trusted to apply the principles of transparency and accountability consistently. It is about whether ordinary people can believe that the same standards applied to them will also apply to political leaders and influential individuals.
Nigeria has suffered enormously from impunity, secrecy and the protection of powerful interests. We do not want to see the same culture legitimised elsewhere.
If the records contain nothing capable of establishing wrongdoing, then transparency should ultimately help put the controversy to rest. If there are legitimate legal grounds for withholding specific information, those grounds should be clearly and convincingly established before an independent court.
Truth has no colour, tribe, race or nationality.
I therefore appeal to you, Mike, to take an unbiased look at the matter before us. Do not defend or condemn anyone merely because of political allegiance, nationality or personal conviction. Examine the facts, examine the court proceedings and, where necessary, speak truth to power.
Nigeria deserves justice.
Nigeria deserves transparency.
And above all, Nigerians deserve the opportunity to know the truth about matters that may affect the future of their country.
The struggle for democracy is not merely about changing leaders. It is about building institutions that no longer protect the powerful at the expense of the people.
Speak truth to power. History will remember those who did—and those who remained silent.
Yours sincerely,
Akor Christian Oche (Due Process)
National Youth Leader,
Coalition for the Protection of Democracy (COPDEM)
