Saturday, September 13, 2025 - Omoyele Sowore, National Leader of the African Action Congress (AAC), has said that he will remain unbowed in the face of obvious persecution by the President Bola Tinubu’s government and its agents.
According to Sunday Independent Sowore maintained that he
will continue to resist and fight on.
Sowore, the Convener of #RevolutionNow national protests and
the AAC’s 2023 presidential candidate, has been having a series of brushes with
the Police and Department of State Service (DSS) over his recent actions and
utterances.
The latest altercation involves his online posts about
President Bola Tinubu on social media, which the government considered as
uncomplimentary.
Sowore told Sunday Independent, “The options before us are
very straightforward, to resist, to fight, and to remain unbowed.
“We have no intention of caving in to blackmail or
intimidation. Our option is to continue telling Nigerians the truth, regardless
of how uncomfortable it makes those in power.
“The AAC will stand by its leader, and I will continue to
stand by the Nigerian people.”
On his readiness to defend himself in courts, Sowore stated:
“Yes. The AAC has always relied on some of the finest and most fearless legal
minds in Nigeria, lawyers who understand that the struggle is larger than the
courtroom.
“Our legal team will once again be led by comrades in the
legal profession, including those who have stood by him through previous
battles.
“Our legal team members are well known to the Nigerian
public.”
On how he would fund his legal expenses as his bank accounts
were said to be on the DSS watch, the AAC Leader stated: “Funding has never
been the problem; conscience is the real driver.
“The Nigerian people have always been generous in spirit and
support, and we have a global network of solidarity that ensures our struggle
is never strangled by lack of resources.
“No matter the tricks of freezing accounts or financial
harassment, the struggle will not be stopped.”
On whether he saw the onslaughts against him as a plot to
prevent him and AAC from taking active part in the 2027 elections, Sowore
responded positively.
He stated: “Certainly, this is a plot, but it is not a new
one. Since 2019, they have tried to silence Sowore, hijack our party, and
de-legitimise our struggle.
“What they fail to understand is that our politics is not
about the next election; it is about the next generation. Whether in 2027, or
beyond, our vision cannot be barred from Nigeria’s future.
He stressed that he and his party leaders are not worried
over the possibility of AAC being proscribed before the 2027 elections, even
though such action by government might prevent the Leftists from presenting a
viable, credible, and popular candidate against President Bola Tinubu.
Sowore said: “No, it does not worry us. If anything, it
reveals the weakness and fear of the Tinubu regime. You cannot proscribe an
idea. You cannot ban a movement. You cannot outlaw the spirit of resistance.
“Even if they attempt to proscribe the AAC, the struggle
will only multiply in forms they cannot control. Our focus is clear, Nigeria
will be free, and no regime of deceit can stand in the way.”
In a related development, the DSS has formally written to
Sowore asking him to delete my tweet and @facebook posting against
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
However, in his response dated September 12,2025, made
available to Sunday Independent, Directed to the DSS Director General, Sowore
maintained that the agency’s attempt at holding an unwarranted brief for the
President is not only insidious, but fundamentally defective, flawed in
principle, and absolutely unlawful.
In the letter titled ‘Re: Demand for Retraction of Criminal,
False, and Malicious Post Publication’, Sowore, while acknowledging receipt of
the letter, he said it was “stealthily dumped with a security guard” at the
office of his attorneys in Abuja and addressed to Abubakar Marshal.
Going memory lane, Sowore recalled his several arrest and
detentions by security agencies, stressing, “it is no surprise that you have
once again resumed repressive hostility against me.”
Sowore wondered why the DSS was fighting on behalf on behalf
of President Tinubu, stressing that “it is elementary that only the person
defamed can sue.”
According to him, the DSS’ attempt to demand a retraction of
his statement was an incompetent and unlawful attempt to hold the President’s
brief.
He maintained that “criticism is indispensable in a
democracy. Freedom of speech includes the right to say what those in power find
uncomfortable.
“Justice Olatawura reminded us that citizens must defend
their hard-won freedom of expression, and that those in public office must not
be intolerant of criticism.
“Where boundaries are crossed, the remedy is civil libel,
not unlawful repression. The DSS’s desire to please the powers that be has
always destroyed institutions while building ‘strong men’…
“Rather than vilification, we should be commended for living
up to our constitutional responsibility to hold leaders accountable.
“I am glad you made reference to my constant desire to seek
change, the very drive that led me to run for the position of President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, even though my commitments and convictions predate
partisan political endeavours.
“It is from that same line of conviction that I have adopted
an uncompromising stance, ensuring that this country does not continue down the
path of perdition.
“You have no business telling me how to criticise the
President. But, knowing the nature of your service, it is clear you have not
learnt your lessons.
“Let me state it clearly once again: the determination of
the Nigerian people to reclaim their country from thieves in power is
unwavering. And it shall be achieved. Freedom cometh by struggle. Aluta
continua, victoria ascerta.”
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