I declined invite to opposition summit in Ibadan — Sowore

Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 election, says he rejected an invitation to attend the National Opposition Summit held in Ibadan, Oyo State, describing the gathering as an attempt by entrenched political figures to rebrand themselves without accountability for past failures.

Leaders of opposition political parties converged on Ibadan on Saturday for the summit, where they agreed to work towards presenting a single presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.

The coalition includes the African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by former Senate President David Mark, a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chaired by Kabiru Turaki, and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).

Reacting in a post on his X handle on Sunday, Sowore said he deliberately stayed away from the summit because he does not believe politicians who had presided over what he described as years of stagnation, corruption and systemic decay could suddenly present themselves as agents of progress.

“I declined the Ibadan ‘Opposition Summit’. Nigerians deserve a genuine alternative, not recycled failure,” he wrote.

Sowore said he saw no reason to pretend that the same political actors who contributed to the country’s problems could now claim to be defenders of the people.

“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,” he said.

The Sahara Reporters publisher added that the AAC would not be part of what he described as a political charade aimed at recycling failed politicians under the guise of opposition politics.

He said the party remained committed to building a people-driven alternative rooted in integrity, accountability and genuine transformation.

Sowore also stated that the AAC would mobilise Nigerians across the country to support what he called a credible political vision that rejects both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and opposition parties he described as opportunistic.

According to him, Nigeria’s political challenges require a decisive break from existing structures rather than a rearrangement of the same political actors.