Former presidential aide Reno Omokri has strongly criticised activist and politician Omoyele Sowore over what he described as an attempt to rely on statements he had already publicly withdrawn.
In a statement referenced by TVC News, Omokri reacted to remarks made by Sowore and his lawyer, Abubakar Marshal, during proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja on January 27, 2026.
During the hearing, Sowore’s legal team questioned why Omokri had been cleared for an ambassadorial consideration despite previously making damaging comments about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu while he was a presidential candidate.
Omokri acknowledged that he made the remarks in the past but explained that they were based on information he later discovered to be inaccurate. He stated that once he confirmed the claims were false, he formally retracted them through written statements, videos, and televised interviews.
According to Omokri, he publicly affirmed Tinubu’s legitimacy on May 29, 2023, the day he was sworn in as President, and again on October 26, 2023, following the Supreme Court’s judgment that dismissed all petitions challenging Tinubu’s election.
He stressed that the apex court clearly ruled that there were no criminal convictions or charges against the President, a decision he said compelled him to fully withdraw his earlier comments.
Omokri further argued that Sowore and his legal team cannot lawfully rely on statements that had already been renounced and apologised for, describing such reliance as legally improper and contrary to established rules of evidence.
He cited principles of common law, including precedents recognised in Nigerian courts, which state that withdrawn statements cannot be used to establish the truth of later claims.
Detailing his efforts at restitution, Omokri revealed that he had appeared on multiple television platforms between 2023 and 2025 to publicly admit his error, apologise, and clarify that President Tinubu had been legally cleared of wrongdoing.
He also disclosed that he personally apologised to President Tinubu during a private meeting in October 2024, explaining that his earlier remarks were made under a mistaken belief shaped by misleading media reports.
Omokri concluded that statements he made between 2022 and 2023, which he later retracted, cannot be used to justify or defend comments allegedly made by Sowore in August 2025, insisting that such an attempt lacks both legal and moral standing.