Former spokesperson to ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Segun Sowunmi, has firmly rejected claims made by former presidential aide Reno Omokri and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ex-spokesman Olisa Metuh regarding how he secured his position with the former vice president.
The controversy began when Omokri, during an appearance on the Honest Bunch podcast, claimed he personally hired Sowunmi, conducted his interview, and negotiated his salary terms for the role of Atiku’s spokesman.
“If I am nothing at all, I am a meticulous record keeper,” Omokri stated. “In May 2018, Olisa Metuh, the former spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party, recommended Segun Sowunmi for the role of spokesman to Waziri Atiku Abubakar. I spoke to Segun Sowunmi from California and negotiated his salary with him. I thereafter informed Waziri Atiku Abubakar, and Segun Sowunmi was announced as his spokesman on the terms I negotiated with him.”
Supporting Omokri’s version of events, Metuh confirmed that the former spokesperson to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan indeed hired Sowunmi for the position.
“When Reno called me to recommend someone for Atiku, I initially thought of Deji Adeyanju, but I remembered that he had left the PDP. I had encouraged him to set up an advocacy group to fight Nigeria’s course,” Metuh explained. “Then, I remembered Segun, so I recommended Segun to Reno. I told him to call Reno and he called Reno, and that was it.”
However, Sowunmi has categorically dismissed both accounts, insisting he knows exactly how he came to work for Atiku and that neither Omokri nor Metuh played the roles they claim.
“It will be a waste of saliva responding to this rubbish,” Sowunmi said, before providing his own detailed account of how the connection was made.
According to Sowunmi, his path to Atiku began through a completely different chain of contacts: “Amina Jambo, my friend, got Lulu Obaifo to convince me to visit Waziri, and when I did, I asked the questions and then visited Uyi Giwa Osagie. Then, I got a call from OGD while they were in Dubai, I got to Abuja, I agreed with Atiku, I met with Dane Waters of Trippi, I met Eta Uso, and then I met Yemi Hilda.”
Taking a particularly sharp tone toward Omokri, Sowunmi described him as “delusional” and claimed he first encountered him at “a defence of London advertising in Dubai.” He challenged Omokri to specify what the actual terms of employment were and questioned the role of Atiku’s then-Chief of Staff.
The former Atiku spokesman didn’t spare Metuh either, dismissing his account as “a joke” and referencing past controversies surrounding the former PDP spokesman.
“Is that not the Metuh of campaign fund money controversy of EFCC fame!” Sowunmi fired back. “That had no response to the brilliance of Alh Lai Mohammed as spokesman until I stepped in to push back for him and the party. Olisa jokes too much, and it is their desire to brag that is their issue as far as I am concerned.”
Sowunmi concluded his response by emphasising that he knows the true story of how he met Atiku and dismissed the importance of the entire controversy: “I know how I met Atiku and all these spokespersons talk. There are far more important issues than Reno and his mockery.”
The public dispute highlights ongoing tensions among former PDP figures and raises questions about the internal dynamics during Atiku’s 2019 presidential campaign preparations. As of now, neither Omokri nor Metuh have responded to Sowunmi’s detailed rebuttal of their claims.
Seunmanuel Faleye is a brand and communications strategist. He is a covert writer and an overt creative head. He publishes Apple’s Bite International Magazine.
