Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) candidate in both the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections, recently clarified his decision not to approach the Presidential Election Tribunal to contest President Bola Tinubu’s victory in a March interview.
While candidates from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, namely Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, had filed petitions challenging Tinubu’s victory at the tribunal, Sowore shared his reasons for not pursuing this legal route. In an interview with Arise News, he expressed a lack of confidence in the tribunal’s ability to deliver justice in election-related matters, citing past experiences.
Sowore emphasized that he saw little distinction between the PDP and the Labour Party, and as such, he and his party distanced themselves from any alliance with these parties to approach the tribunal.
He stated, “What you are saying regarding the Labour Party and the PDP is what people like us have always said, that they are the same. We are not part of that coalition or alliance.”
Regarding the court, Sowore compared it to a situation where someone steals your property, and while you seek to recover it, the thief advises you to go to court. He pointed out that waiting for the court to convene was necessary, but he expressed skepticism about the tribunal’s impartiality.
Sowore added, “The court that has not delivered justice to people like me since I was born in this country is not a court that I can tell you that I have implicit or explicit confidence in.”
He cited a historical example of an election tribunal upholding the 2007 presidential election despite substantial evidence indicating its lack of credibility.
Sowore concluded, “So I do not think we are going to head to the court that may not be able or hasn’t delivered justice in similar matters for us. I think the reason they are asking these people to go to court is to calm the nerves of Nigerian people so that they accept this rubbish as a fait accompli.”
In his view, the direction to take legal action was intended to prevent street protests and ensure acceptance of the election results. Sowore expressed skepticism about the outcome of such legal proceedings, given his perception of how courts are influenced by political parties in power.