Former presidential aide and political commentator, Reno Omokri, has explained why he now supports President Bola Tinubu, despite being a vocal member of the opposition during the 2023 general elections.
Speaking during an interview with Seun Okinbaloye on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Wednesday night, Omokri, who was part of the team that drafted the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential manifesto, said Tinubu’s policies have closely aligned with the PDP’s original plans.
“There’s a saying, results cancel insults,” Omokri stated.
“We had a manifesto which I was part of putting together that’s the People’s Democratic Party presidential manifesto, we said we were going to do certain things, first we were going to remove fuel subsidy, second we were going to float the naira, the third we were going to devolve power from the federal government down to the local level and then we were going to have student loans.”
Omokri emphasised that his political loyalty was tied to national progress rather than partisan allegiance.
“All of these four things that we said we were going to do, President Bola Tinubu is doing them and he began doing them on day one. And like I told you, results cancel out insults, so when I saw the results of what the President was doing I decided that okay, this is a man to be supported.
“Nigeria is our goal, and I am a goal-oriented person, so when I see that the goal that I had is being promoted by the President, why should I fight him?”
Drawing historical parallels, Omokri noted that Tinubu and the PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, share roots in the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), which may explain their overlapping policy objectives.
“His political roots are the social democratic party, and you’ve got to remember that our own presidential candidate, Waziri Atiku Abubakar, had his political roots in that party.
“They are both progressives,” he said.
“So it’s not surprising that at the end of the day, they said they were going to do the same thing. When we saw that this man is delivering results, not just activity, I think it’s wrong for anybody not to support him, because Nigeria is our goal,” Omokri added.
