The human rights activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, has declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election.
Sowore, who was the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), made the announcement on Friday during Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today.
He noted that the AAC is expected to hold its primaries next week, although he did not confirm whether he would emerge as the party’s sole candidate.
“I am running to win,” he said.
Sowore added that political parties should provide room for competent candidates with ideas to emerge, insisting that Nigeria’s current situation demands a different approach.
“And it is because, as I’ve said several times, all the political parties are equal, and the better candidates should be able to win elections in this country, people with ideas.
“It’s different because these are different times also. Times are harder. Nigeria is in bigger trouble.”
He also claimed he has better solutions for Nigeria than President Bola Tinubu and other presidential hopefuls in the opposition space.
“All the ideas of the people you mentioned brought Nigeria into this cycle of poverty, insecurity, pain, sorrow, and tears,” he said.
“Do you want Nigeria to continue to get these same people elected or selected, whichever way they get themselves into office, so that they can suffer more, so that those of us who have ideas that can liberate this country will not be listened to?”
Sowore said his ambition is aimed at offering Nigerians what he described as a credible alternative to the country’s dominant political system.
He also spoke on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) digital membership registration exercise, saying the AAC had not yet submitted its final register due to a court ruling allowing parties to reopen their registration portals.
“We haven’t finally submitted, and that’s what this court judgment says. So if you have submitted now, the court says you can reopen your portal and start again. But we never stopped anyway,” he said.
The 2027 election will be the third time Sowore is contesting the presidency under the AAC, having previously run in 2019 and 2023.
Over the years, he has positioned himself as an alternative voice in Nigerian politics while consistently criticising both ruling and opposition parties over governance, economic, and security challenges.