Sowore claps back after Senator Ajibola called him ‘skit maker’
Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate for the African Action Congress (AAC), has responded to remarks made by Ajibola Basiru, the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who referred to Sowore as a “skit maker” and “comedian” during a recent television interview.
Sowore, in a statement shared on social media platform X, referenced their history of collaboration in opposing military dictatorship during the 1990s. He accused Basiru of abandoning the democratic principles they once fought for, attributing this change to the benefits of his current political position.
The remarks from Basiru, which aired on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” on Wednesday, prompted Sowore to recall a photograph of the two taken in 1998 when he led the Congress of Progressive Youths (COPY), a pro-democracy organization. In his statement, Sowore reflected on how he welcomed Basiru to the University of Lagos following his expulsion from the University of Ilorin in 1992 due to involvement in student activism.
Sowore noted that he and fellow activists, including Kunle Adegoke, also known as K-Rad, played a role in helping Basiru return to complete his studies in law. He stated that both eventually graduated with distinction and achieved significant accomplishments, expressing disappointment at Basiru’s comments given their shared past.
He asserted that the struggle for democracy and human dignity should not be trivialized as entertainment, maintaining that his activism remains aligned with the values they upheld during the military regime. “The struggle for justice, democracy, freedom, and the preservation of human dignity is neither skit-making nor comedy,” Sowore remarked.
Additionally, Sowore criticized Basiru’s stance that opposition candidates should feel embarrassed about losing to President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election, calling it a flawed argument. He emphasized the temporary nature of political appointments and predicted the eventual end of Tinubu’s administration, likening it to the military regimes they confronted in their youth.
“Political appointments are temporary. Tinubu’s regime will come and go, just like the military regimes we confronted,” he said. In closing, Sowore accused Basiru of betraying the principles they once championed together, stating, “What is truly comical is watching yesterday’s beneficiaries of resistance become today’s defenders of the very oppression they once fought against.”
