Former presidential aide Reno Omokri reacted to issues raised during the trial of activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Omokri responded after Sowore’s lawyer questioned the Department of State Services during the trial over why Omokri was cleared for an ambassadorial role despite earlier public remarks he made against President Bola Tinubu. The comments became an issue during court proceedings on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, when Sowore’s counsel tendered video clips showing Omokri making allegations against Tinubu in 2023.
In his response made available to PUNCH Online, Omokri confirmed that he made the comments in the past while believing them to be true at the time. He explained that he later discovered the claims were false and withdrew them publicly through written statements and video messages across different platforms. He said his position changed after Tinubu was sworn in as President on May 29, 2023, when he accepted the outcome of the election and called on Nigerians to support the new administration.
Omokri added that his position was further reinforced after the Supreme Court dismissed petitions challenging Tinubu’s election in October 2023. According to him, the judgment confirmed that there were no criminal charges or convictions against the President, leading him to fully abandon his earlier claims. He stated that he later appeared on several television programmes where he admitted he was wrong and apologised publicly.
He also disclosed that he apologised privately to Tinubu in October 2024 after travelling from the United States to Nigeria. Omokri said this step was taken to formally clear the issue and put the matter behind him.
Addressing the legal angle of the case, Omokri said Sowore could not rely on statements that had been withdrawn years earlier to justify later social media posts made in August 2025. He argued that statements already retracted could not be used as proof of the truth of the claims. He restated that he no longer stood by the allegations and said he was willing to testify under oath if required.
The reaction followed events in court where Sowore’s lawyer played video clips of Omokri during cross-examination of a DSS operative. The defence questioned why the DSS cleared Omokri despite those past remarks. Although the prosecution objected to the admission of the video clips, the trial judge overruled the objection and accepted them as evidence.
Sowore is facing a two-count amended charge of cybercrime linked to a social media post in which he referred to President Tinubu as a criminal. The court has fixed February 4, 2026, for the continuation of the trial.
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