By Opeyemi Adelakun
African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has said there should be no doubt about his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election after Peoples Redemption Party candidate Donald Duke questioned whether he was running.
Duke, a former Cross River State governor, had described Sowore as a “voice of conscience” during an interview with the Naija Unfiltered Podcast.
While praising the AAC candidate for speaking on issues that some politicians might avoid, Duke said he was uncertain about Sowore’s presidential ambition.
“Let me talk about Sowore. I like him. I’m not sure Sowore is running for office, with due respect to him, but I see him as a voice of conscience,” Duke said.
“He says things that some of us, maybe due to civility, won’t say, but they’re real.”
Responding in a social media post on Tuesday, Sowore thanked Duke for the description but said his presidential ambition was not in doubt.
“Dear Donald Duke, thank you for describing me as a ‘voice of conscience’ and acknowledging that I say the things others in politics are too ‘civil’ to say, even when they know those things are true,” Sowore said.
“But let me clear up your uncertainty, and this is important for posterity: I AM RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA IN 2027.”
Sowore also referred to INEC’s final list of presidential candidates, which includes him as the AAC candidate and Duke as the PRP candidate. INEC released the final list of 18 presidential candidates and their running mates on September 12.
“In fact, INEC’s final list released has Omoyele Sowore as the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), just as it has Donald Duke as the candidate of the PRP,” he said.
Sowore said, however, that his reason for seeking the presidency differed from what he described as the conventional pursuit of political power and office.
“Perhaps what makes my candidacy difficult for some members of Nigeria’s political establishment (including yourself) to understand is that I am not running for office in the conventional sense of seeking power for its privileges, appointments or access to the national treasury,” he said.
He said the AAC was seeking to fundamentally change Nigeria’s political system.
“We, in the AAC are running to fundamentally change Nigeria,” Sowore said.
“We are running to dismantle the rotten political order that has kept our people poor while enriching a tiny ruling class.”
He listed equal rights, justice, living wages, education, healthcare, security, electricity and housing among the issues he said the party was campaigning on.
“We are running for equal rights, revolutionary justice, a living wage, free and quality education, decent healthcare, security, electricity, housing and a country that finally works for its people,” he said.
Sowore also ruled out what he described as an opposition coalition whose main objective would simply be to replace President Bola Tinubu with another member of the political establishment.
“And that is precisely why we will not disappear into an ‘opposition coalition’ whose principal ambition is merely to replace Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu with another member of the same establishment,” he said.
Returning to Duke’s description of him as a “voice of conscience”, Sowore said that voice would also appear on the ballot in 2027.
“So, my dear Mr. Former Gov. Duke, there should be no confusion, yes, I am a voice of conscience, yes, but that voice is also on the ballot,” he said. “See you on the campaign trail!”
Sowore also referred to the presidential debate at the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, saying Duke’s late arrival had prevented him from addressing the issue directly.
“By the way, consider yourself lucky that you arrived late to the presidential debate at the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt. I would have cleared your doubts by now,” he added.
ld Duke
AAC presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has responded to Donald Duke’s uncertainty over his participation in the 2027 election.
Sowore said the Independent National Electoral Commission’s final list confirms him as the African Action Congress candidate.
Duke had described Sowore as a “voice of conscience” but said he was unsure whether the activist was seeking the presidency.
African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has said there should be no doubt about his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election after Peoples Redemption Party candidate Donald Duke questioned whether he was running.
Duke, a former Cross River State governor, had described Sowore as a “voice of conscience” during an interview with the Naija Unfiltered Podcast.
While praising the AAC candidate for speaking on issues that some politicians might avoid, Duke said he was uncertain about Sowore’s presidential ambition.
“Let me talk about Sowore. I like him. I’m not sure Sowore is running for office, with due respect to him, but I see him as a voice of conscience,” Duke said.
“He says things that some of us, maybe due to civility, won’t say, but they’re real.”
Responding in a social media post on Tuesday, Sowore thanked Duke for the description but said his presidential ambition was not in doubt.
“Dear Donald Duke, thank you for describing me as a ‘voice of conscience’ and acknowledging that I say the things others in politics are too ‘civil’ to say, even when they know those things are true,” Sowore said.
“But let me clear up your uncertainty, and this is important for posterity: I AM RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA IN 2027.”
Sowore also referred to INEC’s final list of presidential candidates, which includes him as the AAC candidate and Duke as the PRP candidate. INEC released the final list of 18 presidential candidates and their running mates on September 12.
“In fact, INEC’s final list released has Omoyele Sowore as the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), just as it has Donald Duke as the candidate of the PRP,” he said.
Sowore said, however, that his reason for seeking the presidency differed from what he described as the conventional pursuit of political power and office.
“Perhaps what makes my candidacy difficult for some members of Nigeria’s political establishment (including yourself) to understand is that I am not running for office in the conventional sense of seeking power for its privileges, appointments or access to the national treasury,” he said.
He said the AAC was seeking to fundamentally change Nigeria’s political system.
“We, in the AAC are running to fundamentally change Nigeria,” Sowore said.
“We are running to dismantle the rotten political order that has kept our people poor while enriching a tiny ruling class.”
He listed equal rights, justice, living wages, education, healthcare, security, electricity and housing among the issues he said the party was campaigning on.
“We are running for equal rights, revolutionary justice, a living wage, free and quality education, decent healthcare, security, electricity, housing and a country that finally works for its people,” he said.
Sowore also ruled out what he described as an opposition coalition whose main objective would simply be to replace President Bola Tinubu with another member of the political establishment.
“And that is precisely why we will not disappear into an ‘opposition coalition’ whose principal ambition is merely to replace Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu with another member of the same establishment,” he said.
Returning to Duke’s description of him as a “voice of conscience”, Sowore said that voice would also appear on the ballot in 2027.
“So, my dear Mr. Former Gov. Duke, there should be no confusion, yes, I am a voice of conscience, yes, but that voice is also on the ballot,” he said. “See you on the campaign trail!”
Sowore also referred to the presidential debate at the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, saying Duke’s late arrival had prevented him from addressing the issue directly.
“By the way, consider yourself lucky that you arrived late to the presidential debate at the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt. I would have cleared your doubts by now,” he added.
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