Former presidential aide Reno Omokri has taken a hard swipe at activist Omoyele Sowore, insisting that remarks he publicly withdrew years ago cannot be weaponised to justify fresh allegations against President Bola Tinubu.
The fireworks started at the Federal High Court in Abuja during Sowore’s ongoing cybercrime trial, after his lawyer, Abubakar Marshal, questioned why the Department of State Services cleared Omokri for an ambassadorial role despite his past comments on Tinubu.
Reacting in a sharply worded statement, Omokri admitted he once made the controversial remarks, but stressed they were long disowned.
“With regard to the claims made by Mr Omoyele Sowore and his counsel, Mr Abubakar Marshal, in court on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, 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 said.
Omokri said facts later proved him wrong.
“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.”
He recalled that he publicly accepted Tinubu’s presidency on inauguration day.
“On the day that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria… 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 said.
After the Supreme Court upheld Tinubu’s election, Omokri said his position became final.
“In that judgment, the honourable court declared that there were no criminal charges or convictions against the President,” Omokri stated.
He added, “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 on national television and privately to the President.
“I admitted to the Nigerian public and the world at large during a live broadcast that I was wrong about those statements I made about the then-candidate,” he said.
“I flew into Nigeria from my home in California, and apologised to him in person, prostrating flat on the ground,” Omokri stated.
Turning directly on Sowore’s defence, Omokri was blunt.
“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 said.
He reinforced his position with a legal citation, adding that, “Former oral or written statements by any person… may not be given in evidence if the purpose is to tender them as evidence of the truth of the matters asserted.”
Ending on a serious note, Omokri again cleared Tinubu of the allegation.
“I again affirm today… that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not, has never been, and will never be a drug lord,” he said.
“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 courtroom drama followed the playback of old video clips during cross-examination of a DSS operative, a move that drew objections from prosecutors but was ultimately admitted by the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Umar. The case resumes on February 4.
