Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, Reno Omokri, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has no criminal record in the United States, Nigeria or anywhere else.
Omokri made the claim while defending the President amid renewed controversy over records held by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) relating to Tinubu.
According to him, the existence of an FBI file on an individual should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of criminal conduct, stressing that there is a distinction between an FBI record and a criminal record.
“There is no criminal FBI record against President Bola Tinubu. There’s nothing like that,” Omokri said during a City Boy Movement Media One-on-One podcast with Otega Ogra, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media, and selected journalists.
He further claimed that all major presidential candidates in Nigeria’s recent political contests, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, have records with the FBI.
“All of the candidates in this election have FBI records,” Omokri said, while emphasising that such records are “not necessarily criminal.”
The former presidential aide explained that FBI records can be generated through routine government processes, including background checks associated with US visa applications and immigration procedures.
He argued that such records could contain personal and biometric information, including fingerprints, eye scans and other sensitive details, without indicating that the individual had committed a crime.
Omokri also referred to a 2003 communication involving the US Embassy and Nigeria’s then Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun, concerning Tinubu, who was Lagos State governor at the time.
According to Omokri, a check of the FBI’s National Crime Information Center at the time returned no criminal arrest records, warrants or wanted notices against Tinubu.
He said the current controversy was partly driven by what he described as a deliberate conflation of ordinary government records with criminal records.
“A record is just that, a record. There’s a difference between a record and a criminal record,” he said.
Omokri also challenged politicians demanding the release of Tinubu’s FBI records to make their own records public. He specifically challenged Peter Obi to release any FBI records concerning him before demanding the release of Tinubu’s.
The ambassador-designate maintained that the existence of government records on a politician should not, on its own, be interpreted as evidence of criminality.
His comments come amid renewed political debate over attempts to obtain and release records held by US law enforcement agencies concerning President Tinubu.
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