Former presidential aide and ambassador-designate, Reno Omokri, has revealed that he personally apologised to President Bola Tinubu over his past criticisms, saying he withdrew the allegations after new evidence and court rulings contradicted his earlier claims.
Omokri made the disclosure on Wednesday night during Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he addressed questions about his suitability for diplomatic service and responded to criticism from activist Omoyele Sowore.
He explained that his remarks about Tinubu between 2022 and 2023 were based on information he believed to be accurate at the time but said he publicly reversed his position after the Supreme Court affirmed Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election and further checks clarified issues surrounding the President’s academic records.
“I did say some negative things about the president between 2022 and 2023,” Omokri said. “But on the day of his inauguration, May 29, 2023, I asked Nigerians to support him pending the decision of the Supreme Court.”
According to him, after the apex court delivered its judgement on October 26, 2023, upholding Tinubu’s election, he accepted the ruling and formally withdrew his claims during a television appearance two days later.
Omokri added that he later travelled to the United States to verify allegations concerning Tinubu’s educational background, stating that his findings confirmed the President attended Chicago State University.
“I was the first person to say that this man actually attended Chicago State University, even though it was against my own political interest,” he said.
He also addressed concerns about a past forfeiture case in the United States, clarifying that it did not amount to a criminal conviction.
“When the Supreme Court passed its judgement, I said no, this man was never convicted. It was client funds. And I’m a lawyer,” he said, noting that forfeiture of funds is not the same as a criminal offence.
Beyond public retractions, Omokri said he met Tinubu privately to apologise.
“On October 1, 2024, I apologised to him to his face, and I told him I wasn’t being malicious,” he disclosed.
Reacting to comparisons with Sowore, who is facing charges at a Federal High Court in Abuja over comments about the President, Omokri dismissed the analogy as baseless.
“If you go to court and you are charged with a crime, you don’t say this person also did it. That is a very childish defence,” he said.
He argued that governments sometimes prosecute select cases as a deterrent and maintained that his own actions were guided by evidence and legal reasoning.
“At the time I said those things, I believed they were true. When I found out they were not true, I dropped them,” he added.
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