Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate and activist, has accused the prosecution in his continuing federal case of punishing him rather than following due process.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS, Sowore denied that his accusation against President Bola Tinubu was purely a political viewpoint, claiming that it was founded on facts that he feels can be tested through the court process.
“It is a declaration of fact. And it states that if someone has been involved in drug dealing or trafficking, there is no status of limitation.
“Even if you are president, the NDLEA might still try you when your term ends. We can make that point. And in this case, it is more than that.
“During End SARS, there was an active case in the Federal High Court involving the misappropriation of billions of dollars in taxes—taxes that were supposed to be paid by Alpha Beta and were tied to this president. He never handled the matter.
“After End SARS, we were told that the documents were burned in court to cover it up. And we have several of these,” Sowore explained.
Sowore went on to say that he had begged the authorities to allow the case to go to trial so that he could submit his evidence, but that instead, efforts were made to undermine his defence.
“What I told them was, why don’t you simply calm down? Let us prove this case in court. But just as we were about to prove the case, our counsel began tearing into their only witness—a DSS employee who claimed to have discovered that I made this remark. The judge became agitated.
“He said ‘Stop.'” If you do not stop, come and kneel down here. It has never happened before. I tried to get my primary attorney, Marshal Abubakar, to kneel before a judge because they didn’t want us to deliver our evidence.
“They are interested in convicting, punishing me without conviction,” he claimed.
Sowore claimed that freedom of expression should be maintained by the rule of law and not dictated by those in power. He said that the Cybercrime Act should not be used to suppress critics or criminalize statements regarding public authorities.
His words come as he faces a prosecution over social media posts in which he referred to President Tinubu as a “criminal.”
The case resulted in the revocation of his bail after he failed to appear in court, although he was eventually given new bail under tougher terms.
Sowore also underlined that his advocacy is motivated by a desire for justice rather than political ambition, saying he will continue to speak out against what he considers injustice, regardless of the personal consequences.