The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has criticised the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ajibola Basiru, for describing him as a “skit maker” and “comedian”.
Sowore responded in a statement posted on X on Wednesday, recalling their shared history during the struggle against military dictatorship in the 1990s.
He accused Basiru of abandoning the democratic ideals they once defended in exchange for the privileges associated with his current political position.
The exchange followed Basiru’s appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he dismissed Sowore as a skit maker and comedian.
In his response, Sowore shared a photograph of himself and Basiru taken in 1998, when he led the Congress of Progressive Youths (COPY), a pro-democracy group.
Sowore said he received Basiru at the University of Lagos after he was expelled from the University of Ilorin in 1992 over student activism.
He claimed that he and other activists, including Kunle Adegoke, popularly known as K-Rad, helped Basiru secure an opportunity to return to university and study law.
“Both eventually graduated with flying colours and went on to accomplish great things,” Sowore said.
He described Basiru’s comments as disappointing in view of their shared history in the pro-democracy struggle.
“The struggle for justice, democracy, freedom and the preservation of human dignity is neither skit-making nor comedy,” he said.
Sowore also criticised Basiru’s argument that opposition candidates should be ashamed of losing to President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election, describing the position as deeply flawed.
He maintained that political appointments were temporary and predicted that Tinubu’s administration would eventually leave office.
“Political appointments are temporary. Tinubu’s regime will come and go, just like the military regimes we confronted in our youth,” he said.
The AAC presidential candidate concluded by accusing Basiru of abandoning the principles they once defended in their opposition to military rule.
“What is truly comical is watching yesterday’s beneficiaries of resistance become today’s defenders of the very oppression they once fought against,” Sowore wrote.
