Former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai (retd.), has urged Nigerians to reject what he described as foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs amid renewed legal efforts in the United States concerning 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.”
Buratai raises sovereignty concerns
The retired general argued that the controversy surrounding records dating back more than three decades should not be allowed to damage Nigeria’s international reputation or undermine the country’s sovereignty.
His comments come as a US court considers legal proceedings surrounding requests for the release of records connected to historical investigations involving Tinubu.
A US federal court has set August 28, 2026, as the deadline for Tinubu, the FBI and the US Department of Justice to oppose the release of the documents.
The FBI has separately sought to provide some explanations and material to the court privately, with the legal dispute centred on whether portions of the records should be released publicly.
Buratai says Nigeria should protect its dignity
Buratai’s intervention focuses primarily on national sovereignty and the potential consequences of allowing a foreign legal controversy to dominate Nigeria’s political discourse.
He urged Nigerians to approach the issue from what he described as a national-interest perspective rather than allowing it to become a tool for undermining the country.
The records controversy has become increasingly prominent as the 2027 presidential election approaches, with opposition politicians demanding greater transparency while Tinubu’s supporters question the relevance of decades-old allegations.
The ongoing US legal proceedings have not, by themselves, established wrongdoing by Tinubu. The question before the court concerns access to government-held records and the legal basis for withholding or releasing them.