Reno Omokri Accuses Peter Obi of Lobbying for 2019 Vice President Slot, Drops Email Bombshell Amid Clash Over 2019 Elections
A fierce public exchange has erupted between former presidential aide Reno Omokri and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi over claims regarding the latter’s selection as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate for the 2019 presidential election.
Reno Omokri, a known ally of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, alleged that Peter Obi had, in 2018, actively lobbied for the vice-presidential slot by sending his résumé to him via email.
According to Omokri, Obi’s email was neither requested nor expected but was sent in a bid to gain support for the VP nomination ahead of the 2019 general elections.
In a detailed post shared via his X (formerly Twitter) account, Omokri explained that he only decided to reveal the email after being accused of lying by a supporter of Peter Obi during a popular podcast.
He insisted that his decision to publish the private correspondence was driven purely by a need to defend his integrity.
He wrote: “Dear Citizens of Nigeria,
Please find attached an email sent to me by Peter Obi at 6:13 PM on Monday, October 8, 2018. Four days after this email was sent, Peter Obi was announced as Waziri Atiku Abubakar’s running mate on Friday, October 12, 2018.
I am sure very reasonable and objective Nigerians can read his email, follow the timeline, and draw whatever inference they want.
My ONLY motive in publishing this evidence is to establish that I did not lie. I would not have considered publishing this email if a Peter Obi surrogate had not called me a liar on a popular podcast.
Everything I said during my interview is true and can be backed up with DOCUMENTARY evidence.
If this email is fake or AI-generated, then I challenge Mr. Obi to deny it, and I will publish even more damning evidence, although it is not my desire to do so.
However, even if I am nothing, at least I am a meticulous record keeper.
Thank you all, and may God bless Nigeria, as well as you and your loved ones.”
The shared screenshot of the email, dated October 8, 2018, bore the subject line “RESUME.” Omokri claimed the message from Obi expressed gratitude for his support and mentioned that Obi had been instructed by a political leader to forward his credentials for consideration.
He emphasized that the person Obi referred to in the message as “Oga”—the political heavyweight who allegedly asked Obi to submit his résumé—was not Atiku Abubakar. Out of what he described as deep respect and admiration, Omokri declined to name the individual but highlighted their influence in the process.
“Let me add that the person Mr. Peter Obi lobbied, who then asked him to send his résumé to me, and who Mr. Obi referred to as ‘Oga’, was not Waziri Atiku Abubakar,” Omokri stated in a follow-up post.
“Because of my love, respect and admiration for this person, I do not ever want to mention his name.”
Omokri also claimed that following the email, Peter Obi persistently called him “almost every other second,” but he chose not to answer. He said he eventually recommended Obi’s name to the team solely out of loyalty to the unnamed intermediary, not because Obi was the most qualified.
“Out of unshakable loyalty to the person who asked him to send his résumé to me if he wanted to be running mate, I put his name forward as the most qualified candidate.
But in reality, there were two candidates better than him—one is currently an international civil servant, while the other is the chairman of a bank.”
The former aide further clarified that Atiku Abubakar had no knowledge of his engagement with Obi’s contact and had simply instructed him to headhunt a credible running mate from the Southeast. Omokri insisted that his involvement in Peter Obi’s emergence was driven by duty and allegiance, not personal preference.
He concluded by expressing regret that he had to reveal the private email exchange and stated that while more incriminating evidence exists, he would withhold it unless provoked further.
“I take absolutely no delight in exposing this email and only did so because I was called a liar.
The only reason I packaged Peter Obi is because of my loyalty to this phenomenal and virtuous individual.
There are more damning evidence, but I choose to keep my gunpowder dry, for now.”
So far, Peter Obi has not publicly responded to Omokri’s claims or the authenticity of the alleged email.