The former presidential aide and ambassadorial nominee, Reno Omokri, has issued a detailed rebuttal to claims made by activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore during the latter’s ongoing trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja. Omokri’s response came in a statement he made available to PUNCH Online on Wednesday, following court proceedings held on Tuesday, January 27, 2026.
The controversy unfolded after Sowore’s counsel, Mr. Abubakar Marshal, questioned the Department of State Services (DSS) over why Omokri received clearance for an ambassadorial appointment despite previously publicising strong criticisms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
During the trial, in which Sowore is facing a two-count amended cybercrime charge brought by the Federal Government under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024, video evidence was played in open court showing Omokri in past interviews describing President Tinubu as a “drug lord.”
Responding to those remarks, Omokri acknowledged that he did make uncomplimentary statements about Tinubu when he believed them to be true. “With regard to the claims made by Mr Omoyele Sowore and his counsel, Mr Abubakar Marshal… 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 in his statement.
However, Omokri emphasised that he later realised the comments were inaccurate. “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 added.
Omokri said he thereafter accepted Tinubu’s presidency and urged Nigerians to do the same. “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 stated, noting that he reiterated this position after the Supreme Court upheld Tinubu’s election on October 26, 2023.
He also disclosed that he publicly apologised on television, including on TVC, News Central Television and Channels Television’s Politics Today, and that, in October 2024, he privately apologised to Tinubu during a visit to Nigeria, where he said he “prostrated flat on the ground” before the President.
Addressing the specific legal point raised in court, Omokri insisted that Sowore should not be able to use his past remarks, which were subsequently retracted, as part of Sowore’s defence against charges relating to publications he made in August 2025. “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, citing legal text from Phipson on Evidence regarding the inadmissibility of former statements to prove the truth of matters asserted.
Reaffirming his changed stance on the earlier allegations, Omokri stated unequivocally: “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 reaction caps a dramatic day in court. During the cross-examination of the first prosecution witness, DSS operative Mr. Cyril Nosike, Sowore’s lawyer tendered a flash drive containing clips of Omokri’s past interviews, including one in which he said, “Drug lord is not an unprintable name. Bola Tinubu is a known drug lord. I’ve got documents to back it up,” and another showing him declare he would never work with Tinubu.
Although the prosecution objected to admitting these exhibits, the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, overruled the objection and admitted the clips into evidence. Omokri’s clearance for an ambassadorial role by the DSS was also highlighted during the proceedings.
Justice Umar adjourned the matter to February 4, 2026, for continuation of the trial.
