Omokri rejects Sowore’s Tinubu ‘Drug Lord’ defence

Ambassador-designate Reno Omokri has said that Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, cannot rely on his past remarks about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a defence in Sowore’s ongoing cybercrime trial.

Sowore is currently facing a two-count charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) over an August 25 post on X (formerly Twitter), in which he described President Tinubu as a “criminal” while reacting to the president’s anti-corruption comments during a visit to Brazil.

During proceedings on Tuesday, Sowore’s counsel, Marshal Abubakar, tendered video exhibits while cross-examining the first prosecution witness. Among the exhibits was a flash drive containing several video clips featuring Omokri.

One of the videos, played in open court, showed Omokri during a 2023 interview on ARISE Television, where he claimed to have documentary evidence that President Tinubu was a “drug lord.” Another clip showed Omokri stating that he would never work with Tinubu.

Reacting in a statement on Wednesday, Omokri admitted making the comments between 2022 and 2023, saying he believed them to be true at the time.

“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,” Omokri said.

However, he said he later discovered that the claims were false and publicly withdrew them, both in writing and on video, across multiple platforms.

Omokri said he was misled by what he described as false narratives, which he traced mainly to Sahara Reporters and Sowore himself.

He noted that he publicly affirmed Tinubu as president on May 29, 2023, the day of the inauguration, urging Nigerians to move on and support the administration. He said he maintained that stance after the Supreme Court dismissed all petitions challenging Tinubu’s election.

According to Omokri, the apex court judgment clarified issues that had been misrepresented in the media and confirmed that there were no criminal charges or convictions against the president.

“On the same day the judgment was delivered, I accepted it, applauded it, and stated clearly that my earlier position was not only wrong but fallacious,” he said.

He added that he reiterated this position in interviews on TVC, News Central Television, and Channels Television’s Politics Today.

Omokri further disclosed that he apologised privately to President Tinubu on October 1, 2024, after returning to Nigeria from the United States.

“I apologised to him in person, prostrating flat on the ground, and explained that I had been misled by media publications into making those statements,” he said.

On the legal implications, Omokri argued that it was improper for Sowore to rely on statements that had since been withdrawn.

“In law, it is ultra vires, and well established by the rule against hearsay, to rely on statements that have been publicly retracted,” he said.

Quoting Phipson on Evidence, Omokri noted that previous oral or written statements cannot be tendered as proof of the truth of matters asserted once they have been withdrawn.

He stressed that Sowore could not rely on remarks made between 2022 and 2023, which were publicly withdrawn in 2023, to justify statements made in August 2025.

“I again affirm today that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not, has never been, and will never be a drug lord,” Omokri said, adding that he is prepared to testify under oath and tender documentary evidence in support of his position.