During an interview on Noble Nigeria hosted by Noble Eyisi, Sowore explained his principled stance on not aligning with political godfathers in order to win power.
Human rights activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) Omoyele Sowore has said he refuses to compromise his values for political gain, warning that Nigeria has become “a burial ground for good- intentioned people” where evil is more likely to thrive than virtue.
During an interview on Noble Nigeria hosted by Noble Eyisi, Sowore explained his principled stance on not aligning with political godfathers in order to win power.
‘Peter Obi Was Packaged by the Elite’.
On the subject of Peter Obi, Sowore was unflinching. He described the former Anambra State governor as a “packaged” candidate promoted by the elite to hijack the energy of the #EndSARS movement.
“After #EndSARS, the youth were ripe for power. But the elites knew they had to insert someone they could talk to,” Sowore claimed. “So they gave them Obi, and it was all packaging.”
According to Sowore, Obi is not the revolutionary some people think he is. Sowore also accused Obi’s supporters of waging an aggressive information campaign and using social media to silence dissenting voices.
“Obi was portrayed as the face of the youth struggle, but it was a tyranny of the minority,” he said.
“Even Wole Soyinka told me he almost fell for it up to a point. He said I was almost endorsing this guy. And then he woke up one day and his name was all over, and he said he was asking, what did I do wrong? What did I do wrong? It turns out they just picked on him for no reason.
And even though he didn’t participate in the election, he became the most ridiculed person after the election. That was what got him upset. And he said, ‘Oh, if this is my last assignment on earth, I’m going to let people know who you people are.”
Recounting his own encounters with Obi, Sowore shared personal stories of what he described as hypocrisy and stagecraft.
“When we were running for election, I noticed something about him. If Peter wants to take a private jet, he will go and enter through commercial place and greet everybody. You think?. And then they will bring a vehicle and put him to go to the private jet area,” he said.
He narrated how Obi would then switch to the VIP lounge for a private jet. “I was actually expecting that he was driving Innoson motors,” he said.
“Peter Obi had nothing less than 10 big Toyota SUVs waiting for him. And I was telling myself, why do you have to lie? So why do you have to cover up for this? Nobody’s going to be upset with you that you are a presidential candidate if you have a convoy.
“But look at this trajectory, and that packaging is his style. And if you want to get away with finding out, then he’ll send his people after you.” “I knew him and he knew that I knew him. But there were guys who were against him in those days who didn’t have the courage to come out again, because they were afraid of the backlash, and they did a fantastic job of scaring everybody,” he said.
Sowore narrated how Obi once publicly praised him for helping him become governor, but later allowed his associates to smear him and novelist Okey Ndibe with false accusations.
“They printed posters in Anambra calling us gay partners,” he recalled. “That’s when I knew he endorses those rabid online attacks.”
“Information Warfare Worse Than Military Rule”
Sowore warned that the political atmosphere in Nigeria had become dangerously intolerant, comparing the media manipulation around Obi’s rise to tactics seen during the civil war and military rule.
“But there were guys who were against him (Obi) in those days who didn’t have the courage to come out again, because they were afraid of the backlash, and they did a fantastic job of scaring everybody,” he said.
He added that many of the youth leaders from EndSARS had been co-opted or silenced, naming popular activists and entertainers who allegedly supported the elite’s plan.
