Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has explained why he did not attend Saturday’s summit of opposition parties in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Prominent opposition parties leaders in the country, led by a former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had assembled in Southwest Nigeria’s political capital, and agreed to field a joint candidate to face President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 Presidential election.
They had issued a communique criticising the All Progressives led Tinubu administration over alleged poor performance, and allegedly leading the country down the economic slope.
In attendance were major opposition leaders including the Labour Party’s Presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Mr Peter Obi; National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and former Senate President David Mark; former Speaker, House of Representatives Aminu Tambuwal; ADC National Secretary and former Osun State Governor Rafiu Aregbesola; Prof Pat Utomi; former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso; and ex-Transporr minister Rotimi Amaechi;among others from various opposition parties.
Sowore, leader of the African Action Congress (AAC), in a statement on Sunday, April 26, 2026, said he deliberately stayed away from what he described as a gathering of “recycled failures.”
He said although he received an invitation to the meeting, he declined to participate, stressing that Nigerians deserve a credible alternative rather than what he termed a repackaging of politicians who had previously failed the country.
Sowore said many of the individuals involved in the summit had been part of administrations that presided over corruption, stagnation, and systemic decline, noting that such figures cannot suddenly reposition themselves as champions of progress.
His words: “There is no need to pretend that the same men (and a few women) who held Nigeria to ransom for years, presiding over stagnation, corruption, and systemic decay, can suddenly reinvent themselves as champions of progress or defenders of the people.
“Not all Nigerians are suffering from amnesia.
“For the avoidance of doubt, our revolutionary party, the African Action Congress (AAC), will not be part of any charade designed to recycle failed political actors under the guise of ‘opposition’.
“Instead, we are committed to presenting a formidable, people-driven alternative, one rooted in integrity, accountability, and genuine transformation.”
Sowore added that Nigeria’s political future should not be shaped by what he described as a rearrangement of “broken pieces,” but by a decisive break from past leadership failures.
He said: “We will mobilise Nigerians across the country to rally behind a credible vision that rejects the decadence and deception represented by both the APC and their opportunistic counterparts in ADC, PDP, Labour Party, and elsewhere
“Nigeria does not need a rearrangement of the same broken pieces, it needs a complete break from the past.”
