Sowore Can’t Use My Retracted Statement  Against Tinubu as Defence –Omokri

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Reno Omokri, Nigeria’s ambassador-designate, has said activist and Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, cannot rely on his past statements about President Bola Tinubu as a defence in his ongoing cybercrime trial.

Sowore is currently facing a two-count charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS). The case is linked to an August 25 post on X (formerly Twitter), where Sowore described Tinubu as a “criminal” while reacting to the president’s comments on corruption during a trip to Brazil.

During a court session on Tuesday, Sowore’s lawyer, Marshal Abubakar, presented video evidence while cross-examining the first prosecution witness. Among the materials shown in court were old video clips of Omokri.

One of the videos, from a 2023 ARISE TV interview, showed Omokri claiming he had documents to prove that Tinubu was a “drug lord.” Another clip showed him saying he would never work with Tinubu.

However, in a new statement, Omokri said those remarks were made between 2022 and 2023 when he believed the allegations were true. He said he later discovered the claims were false and publicly withdrew them both in writing and on video.

Omokri said he had relied on information from various sources at the time, including reports from Sowore’s platform, Sahara Reporters. He explained that he changed his position after Tinubu was sworn in as president on May 29, 2023, and again after the Supreme Court upheld Tinubu’s election victory.

According to him, the Supreme Court judgment clarified issues that had been widely misrepresented and confirmed that there were no criminal convictions against the president. Omokri said he accepted the ruling and publicly admitted that his earlier statements were wrong.

He added that he later apologised to Tinubu in person on October 1, 2024.

On the legal issue, Omokri argued that it is improper for Sowore to rely on statements he had already withdrawn. Citing legal principles and a well-known evidence textbook, he said previous statements cannot be used in court to prove the truth of a claim if they have been retracted.

Omokri insisted that Sowore cannot use his old remarks from 2022–2023 to defend comments made in 2025. He also reaffirmed that he is willing to testify under oath and present documents to support his current position that Tinubu has never been a drug lord.

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