Human rights activist and former 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has criticised the national summit of opposition parties held in Ibadan, Oyo State, declaring that Nigerians deserve a credible alternative rather than what he described as “recycled failure.”
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Sowore disclosed that he declined an invitation to attend the summit because he viewed it as a gathering of political actors who had previously presided over Nigeria’s decline.
THE WHISTLER reports that opposition leaders from several parties converged in Ibadan on Saturday where agreements were made ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The meeting drew prominent figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Anambra State governor Peter Obi, former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, and former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi.
Also present were former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Senate President David Mark, and other leading opposition figures.
However, Sowore was conspicuously absent from the summit.
In his post, Sowore argued that those behind the initiative could not credibly reposition themselves as champions of progress after years of alleged involvement in stagnation, corruption, and systemic decay.
“There is no need to pretend that the same men (and a few women) who held Nigeria to ransom for years can suddenly reinvent themselves as defenders of the people,” he said, adding that Nigerians were not suffering from amnesia.
He stressed that his party, AAC, would not participate in what he described as a “charade” designed to repackage discredited political figures under the banner of opposition politics.
“Instead, we are committed to presenting a formidable, people-driven alternative, one rooted in integrity, accountability, and genuine transformation,” Sowore said.
The activist also criticised major political parties, including the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), accusing them of embodying “decadence and deception.”
According to him, Nigeria requires a decisive break from its past political order, not what he described as a mere “rearrangement of the same broken pieces.”
