By Peace Udugba -The daily torch media
Human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has declared that President Bola Tinubu will lose the 2027 presidential election to him personally rather than any political coalition currently being formed by opposition figures.
Sowore dismissed ongoing coalition talks among major political actors, describing them as recycled alliances lacking genuine reform intent or ideological direction.
While responding to questions on electoral dynamics, opposition strength, and projections ahead of the 2027 general elections on Thursday, during an exclusive interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese Ijebu, Ogun State, the Publisher of Sahara Reporter, Sowore maintained that Nigeria’s political structure is already compromised, insisting that what is presented as elections in the country does not reflect the will of the people.
According to him, the system continues to reproduce the same political elites regardless of electoral outcomes.
He said, “Oh, he’s going to lose to myself, yes. I believe strongly and I’m making this very clearly that Nigerians just need to wake up, not even a lot, a little and it will be over for the Tinubu regime. The coalition cannot defeat him because it’s not a coalition that is designed to defeat him in the first place. It is a coalition that is designed to replace the older and they know themselves, they are the same people.”
Sowore’s Election Scorecard
In his first presidential outing in 2019, Omoyele Sowore campaigned on a radical “Take It Back” platform, finishing in fifth place (some sources note tenth depending on the specific grouping of fringe candidates) with a total of 33,953 votes. Representing the African Action Congress (AAC), he gained significant traction among the youth and the diaspora, visiting over 15 countries to raise funds and awareness. Despite being excluded from the official presidential debates, he outperformed other high-profile new entrants like Kingsley Moghalu and Fela Durotoye. His campaign focused on bold economic promises, such as creating five million jobs and raising the federal minimum wage to ₦100,000.
Sowore’s performance in the 2023 election saw a sharp decline, where he finished in 16th place out of 18 candidates with 14,608 votes. This was less than half of his 2019 total, a shift largely attributed to the emergence of Peter Obi as a dominant “third-force” alternative.
Following the announcement, Sowore vehemently rejected the results, labeling the process a “fraudulent selection” rather than a credible election due to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) failure to electronically transmit results. In a rare move for Nigerian politics, he publicly released a detailed breakdown of his campaign finances, showing his party received approximately ₦40 million in donations for the 2023 race.
Asked if his antecedents in the polls would see him align with the African Democratic Congress, ADC coalition , Sowore argued that opposition coalitions being discussed in political circles are not fundamentally different from the ruling establishment.
He insisted that many of the actors involved have previously held power and failed to deliver meaningful change.
“And I’m here to say that and repeat that again, that I’m not interested in the conversation about, oh, Atiku is this, Kwankwaso is that. What did they do when they had the chance to fix the country? Nothing. Nothing. This is the country they ran for”.
According to him, this makes the coalition incapable of presenting a credible alternative to Nigerians.
He maintained that the real political awakening must come from citizens rather than elite political arrangements. He insisted that the current political class operates within a closed system that protects its interests irrespective of party affiliation.
Sowore stated that electoral outcomes in Nigeria do not reflect genuine democratic processes. He described the 2023 election as fundamentally flawed and not representative of the people’s will. According to him, the credibility of elections remains a central issue in Nigeria’s political crisis.
He said, “The point I keep making to you, and you must keep being honest, even at your jobs as journalist, is that do you, in your good conscience, say that the 2023 election was an election? Because no, it was a selection. They allocated votes to people as it suits them.”
He further argued that voter participation levels in the last election show deep disengagement from the political system. According to him, over 70 percent of registered voters did not participate, which he believes indicates a potential for political disruption if properly mobilised.
Sowore said, “But, logically, look at it this way, all of the people that voted in 2023, they were just 27% of registered voters. 27%. So, what does that tell you? You still have over 70% of registered voters in their millions who can turn the corner tomorrow and all these numbers you are quoting will become irrelevant.”
He insisted that political elites continue to dominate governance structures while ordinary citizens remain excluded from decision-making processes. He accused successive administrations of sustaining systems that prevent accountability and transparency.
Sowore said, “These are the people who run your country around. They are the ones who allow lecturers to go on strike so that they can own private universities. They are the ones who are involved in importing fuel, importing cement.”
Sowore dismissed the idea of a broad political coalition involving established political figures, arguing that many of them lack the moral authority and ideological consistency needed to drive meaningful change.
He described his attendance at a recent INEC–political parties meeting as revealing, claiming that key opposition figures appeared disengaged throughout the session, which he interpreted as evidence of their lack of seriousness toward reform. He insisted that what Nigeria needs is not another elite-driven alliance but a grassroots movement rooted in the struggles of ordinary citizens. According to him, the current political class has repeatedly failed the country when given opportunities to lead.
“But the coalition that you need is not a coalition that cannot represent you. Right? I went to a meeting, because as a political party leader, I would go to meetings with INEC. I went to a meeting two weeks or three, about a month ago. Babachir Lawal was sitting next to me.
He’s the person who represents David Mark, because David Mark is too old to attend these meetings, I heard. And Aregbesola is the secretary of ADC at the meeting. We had this meeting for almost three hours, but Aregbesola did not say a word. As soon as Aregbesola arrived at the meeting, the man put his head down and slept throughout the meeting.
Aregbesola slept throughout. Babachir Lawal was on his phone throughout. He didn’t say a word at the meeting. Those are opposition leaders in the coalition that you’re asking me to go and join”.
He further argued that many of the politicians being promoted as opposition leaders have histories tied to the same ruling structure they now criticise, saying this undermines their credibility and exposes what he described as a cycle of recycled leadership driven by self-interest rather than genuine reform.
He continued that attempts to regroup the same political actors under different labels will not produce any real transformation. In his view, only a break from the existing order and the emergence of a people-centred movement can offer a credible alternative.
Sowore also framed what he called a “coalition of the oppressed” as the only viable path forward, contrasting it with what he described as elite coalitions dominated by politicians who have already had their turn in power without delivering meaningful change. He argued that these figures cannot be trusted to lead a rescue mission for the country, insisting that their past records disqualify them from being agents of transformation.
He stated that Nigerians must stop relying on familiar political names and instead build new structures rooted in accountability and civic mobilisation.
Electoral System and Act
Sowore also criticised the structure of Nigeria’s electoral system, arguing that it is designed in a way that discourages participation. He said the process is overly complicated and financially burdensome for voters, especially those in rural areas.
He stated, “It is their own systematic way of disenfranchisement of the majority. The electoral act, the cumbersome and bureaucratic and burdensome process of voting. So that’s the problem we have.”
He advocated for electronic voting as a solution to improve participation and reduce logistical challenges. According to him, modern technology should be adopted to reflect global best practices in electoral administration.
He added, “We should be voting electronically. This is 2026 that we should be voting electronically and that you don’t need to travel from Lagos to your village to go and vote.”
CALLER INPUTS ON COALITION AND ELECTION FEASIBILITY
CALLER 1
“Yes, my name is Abdulwasiu calling from Ago Iwoye. We appreciate our guest and his effort since 1992. It is a human right, and we believe in him. But one thing I would advise him is that he needs to work with the opposition. One political party cannot deliver Nigeria this time around. All the political parties need to come together so that they can rescue Nigeria from insecurity. They can rescue Nigeria from economic woes where a common man cannot buy a tube of yam. A situation where a common man cannot make a transport from Lagos to Calabar because the transport is too costly. Very, very. Nobody is enjoying the country presently. I must confess to you. Let’s come together and do the needful. Nigeria belongs to all of us..”
CALLER 2
“PHLLIPS: He was asking that there was a time former head of state, abubakar said if you becomes the president, everyone, every political figure in the country will run away. He’s asking, you know, are they scared of you, what it is.”
SOWORE’S RESPONSE ON COALITIONS AND ELITE POLITICS
Responding to calls for political collaboration, Sowore dismissed the idea of alliances involving established political figures, arguing that such arrangements have consistently failed Nigerians. He maintained that the problem is not the absence of coalitions but the composition of those coalitions, which he described as recycled elites.
He said, “There’s a vibrant population out there that can form a coalition of the oppressed. You don’t need your oppressors to be in another coalition, because they can never save you. A coalition that has Malami, Rufai, Amaechi, David Mark… they are very tired, they’re sick, and there’s nothing wrong with sickness, but a lot of them are sick, both physically and mentally. They cannot deliver you. When they had the opportunity to do so, they did nothing”.
Sowore further criticised specific political figures mentioned in coalition discussions, describing them as part of a failed political establishment. He argued that these individuals had already been given opportunities to govern but did not deliver meaningful results.
He insisted that his political involvement is rooted in opposition to systemic failure rather than personal ambition.
According to him, the solution lies in building a new political structure that is independent of established power blocs.
Sowore said, ““The coalition that I call the coalition of the oppressed.
That’s what we need. We don’t need Aregbesola, we don’t need Babachir Lawal… Go and look at the people in this coalition you are asking me to go and collaborate with. We know them up close. Only one party is destroying the country, the APC. I’ve only participated in one political party my entire political life, which is the African Action Congress, which we started. Stop relying on your enemies to deliver you. It’s not possible.
Even if they promise to take you across the river, they will abandon you in the middle of the river and you will drown.”
He also addressed concerns about political fear surrounding his potential leadership, arguing that such narratives are misinterpretations of his political stance. According to him, what political elites fear is accountability, not him personally.
He said, “I’m not scaring them away. But they know based on my antecedents that we will not have a country where the tribe and the rest of us will not thrive.”
Sowore concluded by reiterating that governance under his vision would focus on restitution and accountability, rather than political privilege. He argued that national wealth and assets should be redirected toward public benefit.
He stated, “If you stole, return the money to us. If you have mansions that don’t belong to you, we’ll convert it to hospital and universities.”
He maintained that his ultimate goal is to restructure Nigeria into a system that prioritises justice, fairness, and equitable distribution of resources. According to him, this remains the foundation of his political engagement ahead of future elections.
