Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to Mexico, Reno Omokri, has acknowledged that an FBI investigation involving individuals connected to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took place, but maintained that Tinubu himself was not the subject of the investigation.
Omokri made the clarification on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday, amid renewed debate over US records relating to an investigation from the 1990s.
According to him, the controversy has been fueled by what he described as a misleading interpretation of Tinubu’s connection to funds that came under scrutiny by American authorities.
Omokri explained that Tinubu was working as an accountant at the time and had custody of funds belonging to clients who were themselves under investigation.
“There was an investigation. Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not the subject of that investigation,” Omokri said.
He said the funds were eventually forfeited after being identified as suspicious, stressing that the forfeiture involved the accounts in question and not Tinubu personally.
“The President was an accountant, and then the President had client funds. Those persons had been indicted by the FBI, and as a result of that, it said that certain funds… are suspicious funds,” he said.
“And then when it was brought to the attention of the President, the President agreed for a forfeiture. Now, it was to the accounts, not the President.”
Omokri also referred to a 2003 FBI document which he said contained the result of checks carried out on Tinubu. He claimed the document indicated that there was no criminal arrest record or outstanding warrant against the President.
However, he acknowledged that an FBI investigation did take place, while insisting that Tinubu was not the individual being investigated.
“There was an investigation. Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not the subject of that investigation,” he reiterated.
The ambassador-designate declined to identify the people who were investigated, saying he did not want to expose their families to unnecessary consequences.
The issue comes amid renewed controversy over US records connected to a 1990s investigation and ongoing legal proceedings seeking access to documents held by American law-enforcement agencies.
The dispute involves 399 pages of records identified through Freedom of Information Act proceedings, with some of the documents reportedly redacted or withheld.
Omokri declined to discuss the contents of the records, citing the ongoing court case.
He also opposed the release of potentially sensitive information contained in the documents, arguing that the records could contain biometric, family and financial details.
According to him, publishing such information could give political opponents material that might be used against the President.
“You don’t want those records in the hands of your enemies,” he said.
Source: Channels Television
