Reno Omokri Says He Was Wrong to Call Tinubu a 'Drug Lord'

Former presidential aide and ambassador-designate, Reno Omokri, has admitted that he was wrong to call President Bola Tinubu a "drug lord". He said his investigations in the United States found no proof to back the claim.

Omokri made this known during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics. He revealed that he went to Chicago in September 2022 to check reports about Tinubu’s academic history and supposed connections to drug-related activities.

He said, "I honestly believed what the media reported. Like most Nigerians, probably you who believe me, but I did something that no other Nigerian did. I went to Chicago."

Omokri arrived in Chicago on 18 September 2022 and visited Chicago State University the next day. He stated that the university gave him documents, photos, and newspaper clippings that confirmed Tinubu attended the school.

He mentioned, "They gave me documentary evidence, photographic evidence, newspaper clippings, and then they have a hall where the president is there because the president is an alumnus."

This new information made him change his view publicly, even though it might have political fallout for him. He said, "Right there in Chicago, I came out, even though it was against my own political best interest, and I said, Look, it is not true."

Omokri also checked US records related to Tinubu and said a 2003 search showed no criminal arrest record or outstanding warrant against the president. He stated, "The results of the checks were negative for any criminal arrest records, once, or warrant, for Bola Ahmed Tinubu."

He insisted that Tinubu was not the main focus of the investigation mentioned in the US records. He explained, "There was an investigation. Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not the subject of the investigation. The president was not the person that was being investigated."

The issue partly revolves around a 1993 US civil forfeiture case involving about $460,000 linked to accounts tied to Tinubu. Omokri clarified, "The money was forfeited to the US government in a case connected to a wider investigation into heroin trafficking. The proceeding was a civil forfeiture case rather than a criminal conviction of Mr Tinubu."

Although Omokri has withdrawn his "drug lord" claim, he warned that political opponents could still use these records during the 2027 campaign. His comments came after his previous attacks on Tinubu were brought up during the trial of activist Omoyele Sowore.

In January, a Federal High Court in Abuja accepted a video where Omokri had called Tinubu a "drug lord" and claimed to have documents to support the allegation. Since then, Omokri has shifted his stance and is now supporting the Tinubu administration. He has also been nominated as Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to Mexico.