“I Prostrated to Apologise to Tinubu for Calling Him a Drûg Baron” – Reno Omokri

Former presidential aide Reno Omokri has detailed how he reconciled with President Bola Tinubu after his past criticism, which included labelling the President a “drug baron.”

Omokri, who was recently nominated as an ambassador by Tinubu, acknowledged making harsh remarks against him in the past but stated he has since retracted and apologised for those statements.

In a response on Wednesday to comments made about him in court by publisher Omoyele Sowore, Omokri explained that he believed his past allegations were true at the time he made them, particularly during the heated 2023 election cycle when he was in the opposition.

However, following Tinubu’s inauguration, Omokri said he accepted him as Nigeria’s President and publicly urged the nation to move forward. “Subsequent to making those statements, I discovered that they were not, in fact, true, and I publicly withdrew them in writing and on video,” he stated.

He noted that he reaffirmed this position on the day Tinubu was sworn in and again after the Supreme Court upheld Tinubu’s election victory.

To make amends, Omokri said he sought a private audience with the President on October 1, 2024. “I flew into Nigeria from my home in California, and apologised to him in person, prostrating flat on the ground,” he revealed. He explained that he had been misled by media reports and acted without malice, under a mistaken belief.

Omokri argued that, in legal terms, Sowore cannot validly use his (Omokri’s) old, retracted statements to justify his own current remarks. He emphasized that once a statement is publicly withdrawn by its author, it cannot be relied upon by another party as a defence.

He concluded by firmly affirming, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not, has never been, and will never be a drug lord. He is a person of good character and high moral standing.” He praised the President’s capacity for forgiveness as a quality that makes him suited to lead a diverse nation like Nigeria.