I was wrong to call Tinubu ‘drug lord’ – Omokri

Former presidential aide and ambassador-designate, Reno Omokri, has admitted that he was wrong to describe President Bola Tinubu as a “drug lord”, saying investigations he personally conducted in the United States found no evidence to support the allegation.

Omokri made the disclosure while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, where he explained that he travelled to Chicago in September 2022 to independently verify reports concerning Tinubu’s academic history and alleged links to drug-related activities.

The former presidential aide said he initially believed reports questioning Tinubu’s academic credentials and alleging that he was involved in drug trafficking.

“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,” he said.

Omokri said he arrived in Chicago on September 18, 2022, and visited Chicago State University the following day as part of his effort to establish the facts surrounding Tinubu’s educational background.

He said officials at the university provided him with documentary and photographic evidence, as well as newspaper clippings, which confirmed that Tinubu attended the institution.

“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,” he said.

The ambassador-designate said the evidence he obtained during the visit forced him to change his position publicly, despite the political consequences of doing so.

“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,” he said.

Omokri explains US records on Tinubu

Omokri said he also examined United States records relating to Tinubu and found no criminal arrest record or outstanding warrant against the President following a check conducted in 2003.

“The results of the checks were negative for any criminal arrest records, once, or warrant, for Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he said.

He further argued that Tinubu was not the subject of the underlying investigation referenced in the US records.

“There was an investigation. Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not the subject of the investigation. The president was not the person that was being investigated,” Omokri said.

According to him, part of the controversy surrounding Tinubu stems from a 1993 US civil forfeiture proceeding involving approximately $460,000 linked to accounts associated with the President.

Omokri explained that the money was forfeited to the US government in a case connected to a wider investigation into heroin trafficking.

He, however, stressed that the proceeding was a civil forfeiture case and not a criminal conviction of Tinubu.

Omokri said the records could still be deployed by political opponents during the 2027 election campaign, despite his decision to withdraw his earlier description of Tinubu as a “drug lord”.

His latest comments come after his previous public attacks against Tinubu resurfaced during the trial of activist Omoyele Sowore.

In January, the Federal High Court in Abuja admitted a video in which Omokri had described Tinubu as a “drug lord” and claimed to possess documents supporting the allegation.

Omokri has since become a supporter of the Tinubu administration and was nominated as Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to Mexico.

Omokri also clears Obi

The former presidential aide also discussed his investigation into allegations linking former Anambra State governor and opposition politician Peter Obi to drug trafficking.

Omokri said he travelled to Peru after similar allegations were made against Obi and interviewed officials there to establish whether the claims were true.

“I went to Peru. When, if you remember, they accused Peter Obi of also being a drug lord. I went. I interviewed the Peruvian officials and I said, you know, Peter Obi is innocent. There’s nothing there,” he said.

Omokri had previously stated that his 2022 trip to Peru found no evidence supporting allegations that Obi was involved in drug trafficking.