By Tajudeen Balogun
Former Presidential candidate of the opposition
African Action Congress (AAC) Omoyele Sowore, has declared that 2027 Presidential election will be a sham.
Sowore made the declaration during an interview he granted The Vanguard newspaper.
The Publisher of the Sahara Reporters upon being asked whether he would run in 2027 Presidential election, snapped, saying he has been contesting, and he will, in the upcoming Presidential poll, but alleged that the election would be a kangaroo, just as the result has been written already.
Hear him: “My answer remains the same: I’ve never stopped running. Whether it’s a campaign, a protest, a court battle—I’m always running for something. But if you’re asking about elections, I don’t believe in the current ballot system. The 2027 results are already written.
“The only thing that can change Nigeria is rebellion against the system, against another sham election, not against democracy, anyway.”
While responding to question on the former Vice President , Atiku Abubakar’s relevance in the country’s political landscape, Sowore
lambasted ex-VP over his unrepentant ambition to be elected as the Nigeria’s President.
He retorted: “Atiku is a man whose time has passed. But he’s still hanging around, hoping to be President. That’s all he cares about. Everything else is irrelevant to him”.
On what rebellion efforts could do, without alliances, he replied: “The alliance I care about is with the oppressed. They are the real majority. The 50 million registered voters who don’t vote—they’re my alliance. Not transactional coalitions built to chase power and money.
When asked whether the teething problems currently facing the country aren’t temporary setback for a prosperous future, Sowore opined: They (members of the public) are being deceived. There’s nothing good coming from this. Removing fuel subsidy, floating the naira—none of it benefits ordinary people. The naira is still collapsing. Prices are rising. If they say this is the “hard road to prosperity”, I say it’s a road to destruction”.
However, Sowore despite his criticism, admitted reforms in the Nigerian Police Force.
He replied that the campaign against the IGP, Kayode Egbetokun has achieved results, as over 1,000 illegally retained senior police officers have been forced out, while police officers who haven’t been promoted in 20 years are now getting promoted, admitting that this has created a shift.
Still, he maintained: “But the ultimate goal is to get the IGP to resign—he’s overstayed. We haven’t given up”.
The New Diplomat reports that Egbetokun has reached the statutory retirement age of 60, but the review of the constitution by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration has legalized his stay – under tenure extension provision, despite attaining retirement age.
On the blink future of opposition, Sowore again argued, dismissing that what is described today as opposition isn’t opposition.
He asserted: “Most of them are former APC or PDP members. They share the same ideology—or lack of one. Real opposition means clear ideological difference. What we have are political mercenaries looking for the best-paying camp”.
