By Ayodele Oni
National secretary of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Ajibola Basiru and Activist Omoyele Sowore are engaged in war of words with each of them digging into their past.
Basiru fired the first salvo when he stated that Sowore was a jester in reference to his presidential bid.
He challenged activist Sowore to prove his political relevance by winning a seat in a State House of Assembly before expecting Nigerians to regard him as a serious political figure.
Basiru made the remarks during an interview on Channels Television while discussing Sowore’s involvement in Nigerian politics.
The Senator argued that electoral success would demonstrate the level of support Sowore enjoys among voters, rather than relying mainly on activism and public criticism.
“Let him struggle to even get a seat in the House of Assembly, then people will begin to take him serious.”
Sowore who is the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, blasted Basiru, revealing how he once helped him gain admission into the University of Lagos, UNILAG, after he was expelled from the University of Ilorin, UNILORIN.
Sowore replied on X on Thursday after Basiru called him a skit maker and comedian during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.
Sowore presented a photograph he took with Basiru in 1998 when he led the Congress of Progressive Youths, COPY, during the fight against military dictatorship.
He said Basiru came to the University of Lagos after he was expelled from the University of Ilorin in 1992 for student activism.
“I received him alongside Kunle Adegoke, popularly known as K-Rad, who is now a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
“We provided them with an enabling environment to apply to re-enter the university, gain admission, and study Law at the University of Lagos,” Sowore said.
He said both eventually graduated in flying colours.
Sowore faulted Basiru’s claim that because Bola Tinubu was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in the 2023 presidential election, those who contested against him should be ashamed of losing.
According to him, the struggle for justice, democracy and freedom is not comedy.
“The struggle for justice, democracy, freedom and the preservation of human dignity is neither skit-making nor comedy.
“Ajibola knows this because he was once part of that struggle and benefited from the solidarity of those who refused to surrender to military tyranny.”
The human rights activist said political appointments are temporary and that Tinubu’s regime will come and go like the military regimes they confronted in their youth.
“What is truly comical is watching yesterday’s beneficiaries of resistance become today’s defenders of the very oppression they once fought against,” he added.
Discover more from The Source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
