Human rights activist Omoyele Sowore has said that some of the political figures parading themselves as presidential aspirants and candidates who have previously contested elections have nothing to offer that would bring an end to the challenges facing the country, news.ng reports.
Sowore, who confirmed on Channels Television on Friday evening that he will contest for the presidency on the platform of the African Action Congress (AAC), claimed that other candidates he had encountered were among those who created the country’s problems, adding that they lacked ideas.
He said, “All the political parties are equal, and the better candidates should be able to win elections in this country, people with ideas. And I’ve said this several times on your show: stop selling people to Nigerians who don’t have ideas, people who don’t even come on your show to be interviewed. In 2018, you never interviewed Buhari, but you promoted him; you were always interviewing his people.
“In 2023, you never interviewed Tinubu. Tinubu never came near this studio. Those of us who come and share ideas with you, vibrant ideas, brilliant people, you keep asking us, “Is it routine?” Is insecurity not routine in this country? Is hunger, poverty, lack of health care, bad roads, not routine in this country?”
“Because all of the ideas of the people you mentioned brought Nigeria into this cycle of poverty, insecurity, pain, sorrow, and tears.”
Having contested for the presidency twice, in 2019 and 2023, Sowore was asked why his chances were better than those of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Seyi Makinde. The former presidential candidate responded that Nigerians would continue to suffer if the same set of people kept being elected into office.
He added, “Do you want Nigeria to continue to get these same people elected or selected, whichever way they get themselves into office, so that they can suffer more, so that those of us who have ideas that can liberate this country will not be listened to, by asking us, what are you doing in the presidential election?”
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