“I Prostrated Flat for Tinubu”: Omokri Blasts Sowore, Blames SaharaReporters for “Fake News” in Court Drama

ABUJA — The legal battle between two of Nigeria’s most vocal activists has taken a dramatic turn.

Reno Omokri, a former presidential aide, has formally responded to allegations made against him in court by Omoyele Sowore, dropping a bombshell revelation about a private, physical apology he offered to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In a statement released on Wednesday following the court proceedings on January 27, 2026, Omokri admitted to making uncomplimentary remarks about the President in the past. However, he turned the tables on his accuser, explicitly blaming Sowore and his media platform, SaharaReporters, for feeding him the “fallacious” information that fueled those attacks.

The “Prostrating” Apology

For the first time, Omokri provided graphic details of his reconciliation with the President. He revealed that on October 1, 2024, he flew from his base in California to Nigeria specifically to seek Tinubu’s forgiveness.

“I sought a private audience with the President himself,” Omokri stated. “I apologised to him in person, prostrating flat on the ground, before stating that I was misled by publications in the media.”

Omokri insists his past attacks were not malicious but born of a “mistaken belief” that the stories he read—chiefly from Sowore’s platform—were true.

“You Misled Me”

The statement serves as a direct counter-attack to Sowore’s legal team, led by Abubakar Marshal. Omokri argues that the very falsehoods Sowore accuses him of were originally propagated by Sowore himself.
“I relied on false publications in the media,” Omokri explained. “Information I had erroneously believed, chiefly from Mr. Omoyele Sowore’s platform, SaharaReporters, and from the mouth of Mr. Sowore himself, was false.”

He claims that once the Supreme Court “exonerated” the President on October 26, 2023, he realized he had been fed a diet of lies and immediately changed his stance.

The Timeline of Conversion

To prove his consistency, Omokri outlined his public pivot from critic to supporter:

• May 29, 2023: He urged Nigerians to support Tinubu on inauguration day.
• October 26, 2023: He publicly accepted the Supreme Court judgment that dismissed the petitions of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi.
• March 27, 2025: In an interview on News Central, he used his legal background to declare Tinubu “exonerated.”
• June 11, 2025: He appeared on Politics Today to publicly apologize to the world for his error.

The “Exoneration” Argument

Omokri, who holds a Master’s in Law from the United Kingdom, emphasized that his use of the word “exonerated” was intentional and legally sound.
“The honourable court declared that there were no criminal charges or convictions against the President,” he noted. “A constitutionally recognised official body had absolved the President of any wrongdoing. That is the legal meaning of that word.”

The statement effectively challenges Sowore to prove the veracity of the old claims, while Omokri positions himself as a man who had the humility to admit his error—and the courage to apologise for it, face-to-ground.