Ambassador-designate Reno Omokri has accused former presidential candidate Peter Obi of bringing tribalism into sport.

This was after Obi acknowledged players of Nigerian descent who featured in Sunday's Super Bowl final in America.

According to a statement, Obi only acknowledged the players of Igbo descent while ignoring those descended from other Nigerian tribes.

Reacting, Omokri wrote, "Must Peter Obi Bring His Notorious Triablism into Sports? Please fact-check me: Nigeria has won many international sporting awards, medals, and tournaments since 2023, including WAFCON, the Women’s Afrobasket Championship, and the ITTF Africa Senior Championships, among others.

"Nigerian athletes playing in and for other countries have also qualified for the World Cup, the OAAF, the World Athletics Championships, etc.

"But in all of these events, Peter Obi has never singled out and individually named the Nigerian players or players of Nigerian origin in these sporting events.

"But yesterday, in a statement, Peter Obi took the extraordinary step of doing so for players of Nigerian origin who are featuring in the 2026 Super Bowl.

"Coincidentally, the names he mentioned, Michael Onwenu and Uchenna Nwosu, are from his own ethnic nationality.

"Please fact-check me again: Even more significantly, there are six players of Nigerian origin playing in Super Bowl 2026, including Boye Mafe and Olusegun Oluwatimi. But because they are not from his own ethnic group, Peter Obi did not mention them in his praise for Nigerians playing at the Super Bowl, reserving his praise for only his kinsmen.

"Players of Nigerian origin played in the 2024 and 2023 NBA Finals. But Peter Obi did not mention all of them, as he did for the Super Bowl 2026 players of Nigerian origin.

"Why not? And why did he choose to single out these Nigerians and mention them specifically in 2026, having ignored others?
The question is this: can a man who is so unconsciously tribalistic as Peter Obi make a good leader in a multiethnic, multicultural, multiracial, and multi-religious country like Nigeria?"

ASA