• DSS
• Omokri
• Onoh
• Sowore

FORMER TINUBU CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN WARNS DSS AGAINST CLEARING OMOKRI, CITES SEVERE INSTITUTIONAL DAMAGE

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  CapitalTimesNews / 2 months
• 0
• 3 min read

Josef Onoh, former South-east spokesman for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s campaign, has issued a sharp warning to the Department of State Services over the ongoing security clearance for ambassadorial nominee Mr. Reno Omokri. Onoh explicitly cautioned that granting clearance to Omokri would inflict severe institutional damage, undermine the integrity of the state’s judicial actions, and make Nigeria the “laughing stock of the diplomatic world.” Onoh, who also chairs the forum of former members of the Enugu State House of Assembly, confirmed he has submitted a protest letter to the National Assembly. He argued that clearing Omokri, an individual who spent years publicly accusing the sitting Head of State of international narcotics trafficking, would be a “grave and avoidable error with far-reaching consequences.” Onoh’s core argument rests on a direct and damaging comparison to the state’s previous security actions, particularly the treasonable felony case against activist Omoyele Sowore. While the treasonable felony charges against Mr. Sowore were previously withdrawn by the Attorney General, Onoh noted that Sowore was intensely prosecuted for the “broad and unspecified” allegation of calling the President a “criminal.” In stark contrast, Onoh highlighted the gravity of Mr. Omokri’s past statements: “Mr. Omokri’s allegation: The President is a convicted (or forfeit-linked) narcotics kingpin who personally ran a heroin trafficking network and laundered proceeds through U.S. banks, with documented evidence that he (Omokri) possesses and is ready to tender in court.” Onoh stressed that the specificity, the sustained nature, and the claim of holding “incontrovertible documentary evidence” makes Omokri’s statements “objectively more explosive and infinitely more destabilising.” According to Onoh, “If the DSS clears Mr. Omokri for high diplomatic office, both domestic and international audiences will draw three inescapable and negative conclusions. The Nigerian state officially regards calling the President a ‘drug baron’ with claimed documentary evidence as compatible with the nation’s highest diplomatic office. The prosecution of Mr. Sowore for a lesser allegation is confirmed to have been selective, vindictive, and politically motivated, as a far more egregious accuser is being rewarded. The state is either accepting Omokri’s past narrative or deliberately suppressing the evidence he claims to hold by elevating him to an ambassadorial position where diplomatic immunity could be invoked.” Onoh warned that clearing the nominee violates fundamental legal and ethical standards, threatening Nigeria’s reputation globally. He argued that elevating an individual with such antecedents renders the constitutional requirement for ambassadors to be persons of “proven integrity” farcical. “The DSS will be seen as having abdicated its core mandate of impartial threat assessment, allowing political alignment rather than threat substance to guide its vetting,” Onoh said. Onoh cited informal discomfort expressed by key Western missions regarding Mr. Omokri’s past conduct, warning that clearance could invite pre-emptive agrément refusals and diplomatic incidents, causing “incalculable and long-lasting” damage to Nigeria’s international image. In his final plea to the Senate, Onoh implored them not to allow Omokri to “make a Mockery of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” urging them to reject the confirmation unless Omokri publicly presents the evidence he repeatedly claimed to possess.