Omoyele Sowore, a publisher of Sahara Reporters, has described the presidential candidates of other parties as “thieves”, and himself as the “police”.
Sowore, who was declared the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) unopposed at the party’s national convention held at Work and Connect Event Center in Abuja on Thursday, said this in his declaration speech.
“We’re on the match again and the Nigerian people are waiting for their real president. The other parties have elected their thieves and we have decided that if the other parties elect thieves, we will elect our own police,” he said.
He asserted that Nigeria has been plundered by those he described as moneybags and fraudsters, stating that Nigerians must now choose between light and darkness.
“I’m happy that we now have an opportunity to differentiate between darkness and light; to differentiate between the corrupts and the honest or incorruptible; to differentiate between the old and young; to differentiate even between the sick and healthy to differentiate between as you say, the ugly and fine; to differentiate between the strong or weak. To differentiate between those who are exposed, and those who are barbaric; to differentiate between those who are thieves and some of us who we will catch them,” Sowore said.
“So, the people of Nigeria now have a clear choice and we are warning since you had a choice in 2019 but you looked the other way. Now is the time to make the right decisions for your future and for the future of your children. The future of our country, the future of Africa, and the future of the world.
“This is 2022. Nigerians are crying for freedom, liberation, and prosperity. Our party, the African Action Congress will deliver this to you and I want to assure you that we are prepared to deliver a disgrace to our opponents.”
Sowore promised to hand over power to a woman at the end of his tenure, to better Nigeria’s health care and education system and to improve the welfare of workers.
“And, I hope when I’m done as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria after 2023, the next president will be a female and that is what will happen. I have come to accept your nomination on behalf of myself.
“What we are bringing you is good healthcare. Those students who have been home because the lecturers are on strike, we are going to reopen your schools. And for our children who are in the educational sector from kindergarten to university, we are no longer working on basic universal education because we have moved past basic education, we are offering you top-level technologically driven education.
“We are promising this country lights in the place of darkness. Because we know and I know that I can provide 24/7 electricity in Nigeria so that we can power not only a political revolution but an industrial revolution.
“We will also clearly manage a government that is compact and effective. We will work and go after the Nigerian constitution that is not only fake but antiquated and illegitimate because it was created by the military. That constitution has to change. For workers, you are going to get a living wage.”
Today’s victory confirms Sowore’s second participation in the Nigerian presidential elections.
He was the party’s candidate in 2019 and garnered 33,953 votes at the polls, over opponents like Muhammadu Buhari of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, among others.
