Reno Omokri, Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to Mexico, has said President Bola Tinubu does not have a criminal record with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI.
Omokri made this known on Monday during the City Boy Movement media podcast. He was speaking alongside Otega Ogra, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media.
He said there is a clear difference between an “FBI record” and an “FBI criminal record,” and that Nigerians should not confuse the two.
According to him, anyone who applies for a United States visa automatically has an FBI record. He added that all candidates who contested the last presidential election also have FBI records.
“There is no criminal FBI record against President Bola Tinubu. There’s nothing like that,” Omokri said. “A record is just a record. There is a difference between a record and a criminal record.”
He explained that an FBI record contains personal information such as fingerprints, eye scans, blood group, and in some cases DNA and family details.
“Who here will want that information out?” he asked.
Omokri also said those asking for Tinubu’s records to be made public should be ready to have their own records published as well.
The comments come amid a case in a United States court over requests to release FBI investigation records on Tinubu dating back to 1992 and 1993.
In August, Tinubu asked a US district court to reject a motion seeking the release of the documents. He argued that the records are protected by privacy laws in the US.
The request was filed by Aaron Greenspan of PlainSite through Freedom of Information Act requests to six US agencies. The requests relate to an investigation into a heroin ring in Chicago in the early 1990s. Tinubu was named among four people in the request.
Court records show that in 1993, Tinubu forfeited $460,000 to the US government over allegations linked to the case.
In April 2025, US District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration had not given enough reason to keep secret the fact that Tinubu was a subject of investigation. She ordered both agencies to search for and release records that are not exempt from disclosure.