Former presidential aide Reno Omokri has rejected the use of his past remarks describing President Bola Tinubu as a “drug lord” as evidence in the ongoing cyberstalking trial of Omoyele Sowore, insisting the statements were long withdrawn and legally inadmissible.
In a detailed response issued on Wednesday, Omokri said he made the remarks in 2022 and 2023 while believing them to be true, but later discovered they were false and publicly retracted them across multiple platforms.
He said he formally withdrew the comments on May 29, 2023, the day Tinubu was sworn in as President, and repeated the retraction after the Supreme Court upheld Tinubu’s election on October 26, 2023. According to Omokri, the apex court ruled that there were no criminal charges or convictions against the President, clarifying issues that had been misrepresented in the past.
Omokri said he accepted the judgment immediately and publicly acknowledged that his earlier claims were wrong. He added that he reaffirmed this position in subsequent television interviews, including appearances on TVC, News Central, and Channels Television’s Politics Today.
He also disclosed that he privately apologised to President Tinubu on October 1, 2024, during a visit to Nigeria from the United States, saying he had been misled by media reports into making the allegations.
Reacting specifically to Sowore’s reliance on a video clip of his past comments, Omokri argued that the move was flawed in law. He cited the rule against hearsay and said withdrawn statements could not be used to establish the truth of claims made later by another party.
Quoting Phipson on Evidence and the Privy Council decision in Teper v R, Omokri said prior statements cannot be tendered as proof of facts once the maker has admitted they were mistaken and formally retracted.
He maintained that Sowore could not rely on remarks made years earlier, especially as Sowore and his platform, Sahara Reporters, had originally promoted the allegations.
Omokri concluded by reaffirming that President Tinubu “is not, has never been, and will never be a drug lord,” adding that he was willing to testify under oath and present documentary evidence to support his position.
