Former presidential aide Reno Omokri on Wednesday addressed comments raised during the ongoing trial of activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore.
The matter came up after Sowore’s lawyer, Abubakar Marshal, questioned why the Department of State Services (DSS) cleared Omokri for an ambassadorial role despite his past description of President Bola Tinubu as a “drug lord.”
In his press statement, Omokri admitted he once made such remarks, saying: “I do freely admit that I did make uncomplimentary remarks about the then Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, while believing those comments to be true at the time I uttered them.”
He explained that he later discovered the claims were false and publicly withdrew them: “Subsequent to making those statements, I discovered that they were not, in fact, true, and I publicly withdrew them in writing and on video at various times and through multiple platforms.”
Omokri noted that on May 29, 2023, the day Tinubu was sworn in, he issued a statement affirming him as President: “I released a statement affirming him as President of Nigeria and urging members of the public to put the past behind them and give him their full support.”
He added that after the Supreme Court upheld Tinubu’s election in October 2023, he accepted the ruling: “Based on that verdict, my stance on the statements I had made against the President had changed: not only was it wrong, but I fully believed it was fallacious.”
Omokri said he went further by apologising publicly in interviews with TVC, News Central, and Channels Television, and privately to Tinubu in October 2024: “I flew into Nigeria from my home in California, and apologised to him in person, prostrating flat on the ground.”
On Sowore’s legal argument, Omokri insisted withdrawn remarks could not be used as defence: “Therefore, Mr Sowore cannot rely on statements I made between 2022 and 2023, and then publicly withdrew in 2023, as a defence for statements he made in August 2025.”
He reaffirmed his position strongly: “I again affirm today… that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not, has never been, and will never be a drug lord. I make these statements voluntarily, freely and of my own volition… and I am fully prepared to testify to the above under oath in court.”
The trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja saw Sowore’s lawyer tender video clips of Omokri’s 2023 ARISE News interview where he had made the controversial remarks. Despite objections from the prosecution, Justice Mohammed Umar admitted the clips as evidence. The case was adjourned to February 4 for continuation.
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