Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has alleged that his repeated arrests, detention and prosecution are part of a decades-long campaign by Nigeria’s ruling elite to silence him over his activism and criticism of successive governments.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Friday, Sowore said his latest legal challenges are not a result of recent political disagreements but a continuation of what he described as a sustained pattern of persecution dating back to his teenage years.
“They have been after me since I was 18 years old in this country, 1989. The military was after me. They have tried to kill me in this country,” he said.
The activist dismissed suggestions that his current prosecution is linked to the boundaries between free speech and criminal defamation, insisting instead that it is politically motivated.
“I am being punished by people in power for standing up for my rights and standing up for the rights of other people.
“It didn’t start today. They have a historical anger against me,” he stated.
According to Sowore, successive military and civilian administrations have targeted him because of his consistent opposition to corruption, impunity and abuse of power.
“It’s an issue between the ruling class and me in Nigeria that has been destroying the country, that I have stood in their way—in the way they do corruption, in the way they carry out impunity,” he said.
Recalling what he described as a long history of persecution, Sowore cited the seizure of his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate during military rule, his expulsion from the University of Lagos over student protests, repeated arrests and alleged attacks by security agencies.
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“What was the reason they gave for seizing my NYSC certificate? That I discussed politics in 1996 when the military was in power. What was the reason I was expelled from the university? Because I participated in protests,” he said.
“I was abducted in this country. I’ve been shot at. I was shot with a riot gun in this country. So what was I saying when a police officer shot me? Was I not participating in peaceful protests?” he added.
Sowore also rejected claims that his recent detention was merely the consequence of allegedly defamatory remarks against President Bola Tinubu.
“Forget about what they tell you is the reason they arrest me. What they say publicly is not the real reason.
“There’s nothing about what I’ve said, and what I keep saying, that everybody doesn’t know. I’m not just calling names. I have facts, and I’m presenting the facts,” he said.
Defending freedom of expression, Sowore argued that elected leaders in a democratic society should tolerate criticism rather than deploy state institutions to suppress dissent.
“If I’m president of Nigeria, I will not have time to police speech. If you call me any names, I won’t listen to you because it will be within your rights,” he said.
While acknowledging that public officials who believe they have been defamed have the right to seek legal redress, he maintained that criminal prosecution should never be used to silence critics.
“If I feel bad about it, I will take you to a civil court, but I will not be the president who sends security agencies to arrest people because they criticised me,” Sowore added.A