Onoh Warns DSS Against Clearing Reno Omokri for Ambassadorial Role

Uzoma Mba

The Chairman of the Forum of Former Members of the Enugu State House of Assembly and former Southeast spokesman for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Denge Josef Onoh, has cautioned the Department of State Services (DSS) against granting security clearance to social commentator Reno Omokri, warning that such a decision would damage national security, undermine an ongoing treasonable felony prosecution, and inflict lasting harm on Nigeria’s international reputation.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Onoh said the implications of clearing Omokri “touch directly on national security, the integrity of ongoing treasonable felony prosecutions, the reputation of the Department of State Services, and Nigeria’s standing in the comity of nations”.

Onoh noted that Omokri is among ambassadorial nominees currently undergoing DSS screening, stressing that “granting security clearance at this material time would constitute a grave and avoidable error with far-reaching consequences”.

He drew a direct comparison between Omokri’s past public allegations against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the ongoing prosecution of activist Omoyele Sowore, arguing that clearing the former would fatally contradict the basis of the latter’s trial.

According to him, Sowore is being prosecuted on charges that include treasonable felony, rooted partly in his repeated description of the President as “a criminal”, in a case still active before the Federal High Court. He stated that Omokri “has gone significantly further”, noting that between 2022 and 2024, Omokri repeatedly labelled the President “a drug baron”, claimed to possess documentary evidence, and publicly dared the President to sue him, promising to “expose everything” in open court.

Onoh argued that the specificity of Omokri’s allegations made them “objectively more explosive and infinitely more destabilising” than Sowore’s, adding that clearing him for an ambassadorial position would create a “fatal contradiction”.

He warned that such clearance would suggest that calling the President a “drug baron” is compatible with high diplomatic office while someone who made a less specific allegation is being prosecuted. He said the development would allow Sowore’s defence team to argue that the prosecution is selective, politically motivated, and an abuse of process, thereby jeopardising the case and potentially embarrassing the country internationally.

Onoh also cited constitutional and diplomatic concerns, noting that Section 172 of the 1999 Constitution requires ambassadors to be persons of proven integrity. He said several foreign missions have expressed discomfort with Omokri’s past conduct, and clearing him could invite diplomatic pushback or refusals of agrément.

He warned that the DSS risked damaging its institutional reputation, as future defendants could argue that the Service applies double standards based on political alignment rather than the substance of allegations made against the President.

Onoh added that Omokri’s appointment would likely attract international media attention, portraying Nigeria as rewarding a figure who had spent years accusing the President of drug-related crimes, thereby denting the country’s image.

He concluded by urging the DSS not to clear Omokri, saying: “To do otherwise is to hand him the ultimate platform to claim vindication, collapse an ongoing treasonable felony prosecution, ridicule the DSS, and make Nigeria the laughing stock of the diplomatic world.”