Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to Mexico, Reno Omokri, has clarified his position on the controversy surrounding United States law-enforcement records involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying an FBI investigation took place but that Tinubu himself was not the subject of the probe.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Omokri said the investigation involved individuals connected to funds that Tinubu, who was then an accountant, held on behalf of clients.

“There was an investigation. Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not the subject of that investigation,” Omokri said.

He said the funds were considered suspicious because the clients associated with them had been indicted by US authorities, adding that Tinubu subsequently agreed to the forfeiture of the funds.

Omokri rejected the description of Tinubu as having been “investigated by the FBI”, calling it a “fallacious statement”. He argued that the forfeiture involved accounts holding clients’ funds and did not establish that Tinubu had committed a crime.

He also cited a 2003 FBI communication which, according to him, showed that checks conducted on Tinubu returned no criminal arrest records or warrants.

However, when the interviewer pointed out that the absence of an arrest record or warrant did not necessarily mean that no investigation had occurred, Omokri reiterated that there had been an investigation but maintained that Tinubu was not its subject.

The comments come amid controversy over the release of US law-enforcement records relating to a 1990s investigation and ongoing FOIA litigation involving 399 pages of documents.

Recent court reporting has described Tinubu as a subject of a criminal investigation involving the FBI and DEA, although the records do not establish that he committed drug trafficking or was convicted of a crime.

Omokri, who declined to comment on the 399 pages because the matter is before the courts, said some withheld records could contain sensitive personal information that could be exploited by Tinubu’s political opponents.

The ambassador-designate also explained his dramatic shift from being a vocal critic of Tinubu to defending the President.

He said he travelled to Chicago in 2022 intending to investigate allegations concerning Tinubu’s educational records but changed his position after visiting Chicago State University and reviewing documentary evidence and court proceedings.

“I went to Chicago to disgrace the President, but I found out that he actually was admitted, attended, and graduated from Chicago State University,” he said.

Omokri urged Nigerians to focus less on controversies surrounding Tinubu’s age and past and pay greater attention to the economy, security and healthcare.

“These are the things that we should be talking about in Nigeria, and not age-shaming the President,” he said.