Ambassador-Designate Reno Omokri Responds To Sowore: Why Withdrawn Allegations Against President Tinubu Cannot Be Recycled As Legal Defence

Ambassador-designate, Mr Bemigho Reno Omokri, awaiting posting following his appointment into Nigeria’s diplomatic service, has issued a comprehensive and legally grounded response to allegations attributed to Mr Omoyele Sowore, publisher of SaharaReporters, arising from statements made by Sowore’s counsel, Mr Abubakar Marshal, during court proceedings held on Tuesday, January 27, 2026.

In a detailed statement titled

“Concerning the Statements Made Against Me by Mr Omoyele Sowore, Through His Lawyer in Court,” the ambassador-designate addressed, point by point, the attempt to rely on remarks he made during the 2022–2023 election cycle—remarks he has since publicly withdrawn, repudiated, and apologised for—to justify fresh allegations made by Mr Sowore in August 2025.

Admission Made in Good Faith, Followed by Full Retraction
Ambassador-designate Omokri began by acknowledging that he had, in the past, made uncomplimentary remarks about then-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while believing those claims to be true at the time.
He stressed, however, that upon discovering that the allegations were factually incorrect, he took immediate and sustained steps to withdraw them publicly, both in writing and on video, across several platforms.
According to him, the issue is not whether such statements were ever made, but the fact that they were retracted in good faith once the truth became clear, and that continued reliance on them is both legally untenable and morally indefensible.

Recognition of Tinubu’s Presidency and Judicial Finality

Omokri recalled that on Monday, May 29, 2023, the day President Tinubu was sworn in, he issued a public statement recognising him as the legitimate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and urged Nigerians to move past the bitterness of the election season in the interest of national unity.
That position, he said, was reinforced on Thursday, October 26, 2023, when the Supreme Court of Nigeria dismissed all petitions challenging President Tinubu’s election, including those filed by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr Peter Obi.
He noted that the apex court:
Found no criminal charges or convictions against the President;
Clarified historical issues that had been misrepresented in parts of the media.
On the same day the judgment was delivered, Omokri said he accepted, applauded, and publicly endorsed the ruling, declaring his earlier claims not just wrong, but fallacious.

Repeated Public Affirmation Across Major Media Platforms

Two days later, on Saturday, October 28, 2023, Omokri reaffirmed this position during an interview on TVC, describing the Supreme Court’s verdict as righteous and consistent with the letter and spirit of the law.
As opposition elements continued to recycle the allegations, Omokri said he deliberately returned to the public space to correct the record:
On Thursday, March 27, 2025, during an interview on News Central Television, he described President Tinubu as having been “exonerated”, explaining that he used the word intentionally and advisedly, given his Master’s degree in Law from the United Kingdom and its precise legal meaning.
On Wednesday, June 11, 2025, he appeared live on Politics Today, Nigeria’s most-watched political programme, where he admitted before a national and international audience that he had relied on false media publications, particularly those originating from SaharaReporters and statements directly attributed to Mr Sowore.
He said that once authoritative judicial pronouncements clarified the facts, he withdrew his statements completely and apologised without reservation.

Private Apology and Personal Restitution

In a further disclosure, the ambassador-designate revealed that on October 1, 2024, he travelled from his home in California to Nigeria to seek a private audience with President Tinubu.
During that meeting, he said he prostrated fully and apologised in person, explaining that his earlier statements were not driven by malice but by reliance on misleading media narratives which he later discovered to be untrue.

The Legal Position: Hearsay, Ultra Vires Conduct, and Abuse of Withdrawn Statements

Addressing the legal issues raised in court, Omokri stated that it is ultra vires and contrary to settled principles of evidence for Mr Sowore to rely on statements that were:
Made in good faith,
Subsequently discovered to be false,
Publicly withdrawn,
And followed by repeated acts of restitution and apology,
as a defence for new allegations made more than two years later.
He cited the rule against hearsay, relying on Phipson on Evidence, as endorsed by the Privy Council in Teper v. R and consistently applied in common law jurisdictions, including Nigeria.
The principle, he explained, is clear:
“Former oral or written statements may not be given in evidence if the purpose is to tender them as proof of the truth of the matters asserted.”

Omokri further argued that this position is even stronger given that the impugned allegations originated from Mr Sowore himself and his platform long before Omokri ever referenced them.

Final Affirmation and Willingness to Testify Under Oath

The ambassador-designate concluded with a firm and unambiguous declaration:
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not, has never been, and will never be a drug lord.”
He described the President as a man of good character, high moral standing, and noted that his capacity for forgiveness—evidenced by his acceptance of apologies from former critics—underscores why he is particularly suited to lead a multiethnic, multicultural, multi-religious, and multiracial Nigeria.

Omokri stated that he made the declaration voluntarily, freely, and of his own volition, adding that he is fully prepared, as a serving ambassador-designate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to testify under oath and tender documentary, dated, and timestamped evidence to establish the truth of every assertion made.
Signed:
Bemigho Reno Omokri