African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has responded to the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ajibola Basiru, after the senator described him as a “skit maker” and “comedian”.
In a statement posted on X, Sowore recalled his longstanding relationship with Basiru, saying they had jointly opposed military dictatorship in the 1990s.
He also accused the APC chieftain of abandoning the democratic ideals they once defended in exchange for the privileges associated with his current political position.
The exchange followed Basiru’s appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, during which he described Sowore as a skit maker.
In his response, Sowore shared a photograph of himself with Basiru taken in 1998, when he led the Congress of Progressive Youths (COPY), a pro-democracy group.
“I watched an interview on Politics Today on Channels Television, anchored by Seun Okinbaloye, in which the APC National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, called me a ‘skit maker’ and ‘comedian’,” he wrote.
Sowore said he received Basiru at the University of Lagos after he was expelled from the University of Ilorin in 1992 over student activism.
According to Sowore, he and other activists, including Kunle Adegoke, popularly known as K-Rad, helped Basiru secure an opportunity to return to university and study law.
“Both eventually graduated with flying colours and went on to accomplish great things,” Sowore said, adding that their shared history made Basiru’s comments particularly disappointing.
He argued that the struggle for democracy and human dignity should not be trivialised as entertainment, maintaining that his activism remained consistent with the ideals they defended during military rule.
“The struggle for justice, democracy, freedom and the preservation of human dignity is neither skit-making nor comedy,” he said.
Sowore also criticised Basiru’s argument that opposition candidates should be ashamed of losing to President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election, which Sowore described as deeply flawed.
He maintained that political appointments were temporary and said Tinubu’s administration, like previous military regimes, would eventually leave office.
“Political appointments are temporary. Tinubu’s regime will come and go, just like the military regimes we confronted in our youth,” he said.
Sowore concluded by accusing Basiru of abandoning the ideals he once championed.
“What is truly comical is watching yesterday’s beneficiaries of resistance become today’s defenders of the very oppression they once fought against,” he wrote.