AAC's Sowore launches 'revolution' protest in Lagos

Former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has launched what he described as the beginning of a revolution that'll take place in Nigeria.

The former candidate marched with some members of the Lagos State chapter of his African Action Congress (AAC) in Lagos on Monday, July 15, 2019 to "start preparing Nigerians for what is to happen".

While speaking at the protest rally, he accused the current government of incompetence and lacking a vision to lead Nigeria.

Sowore also warned a faction of the AAC that suspended him as party chairman in May that the party, founded last year, cannot be hijacked.

He said, "This is just a rehearsal of what is going to visit Nigeria in the next few weeks, months that we'll cause revolution in this country.

"Nigerian people are tired of the negligence, incompetence and wickedness in government.

"We came out here as members of the African Action Congress; first, to warn the people who are trying to hijack our party that our party is not hijackable, but most importantly to start preparing Nigerians for what is to happen.

"We want this country to experience a revolution and we hope that everybody that is watching and listening to us all over Nigeria will be getting ready.

"These people have no plans for us. They have no agenda or vision for this country. As a result, we're going to take our destiny in our hands.

"So, we came here today to give you a small bit of what will be happening as we align with our colleagues, other revolutionaries both in Nigeria and outside of Nigeria."

Sowore's battle for AAC

Sowore was suspended for six months by the AAC's National Executive Committee (NEC) for alleged anti-party activities, refusing to heed the tenets of the party's constitution, and financial misappropriation.

Omoyele Sowore has been fighting divisions in his party since he lost in the 2019 presidential election [Facebook/Omoyele Sowore] ece-auto-gen

He was suspended, alongside eight others, during a special NEC meeting held in Abuja on May 13, with Leonard Nzenwa, the party's national secretary, immediately sworn in as acting chairman.

In response to his suspension, Sowore accused the Ezenwa-led faction of being financially-induced to engage in anti-progressive politics.

He expelled Nzenwa from the party, while also suspending other "misguided individuals" who participated in the special NEC meeting.

However, a Federal High Court in Abuja last week ordered Sowore to stop parading himself as the AAC chairman after Nzenwa approached the court to seek a legal backing for his suspension. The court's decision was criticised at Monday's protest rally as against the will of members of the party.

Sowore was elected the AAC's national chairman shortly after it was registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in August 2018 and was elected the party's presidential candidate shortly after.

The Sahara Reporters founder only scored a total of 33,953 votes in the February 23 presidential election won by President Muhammadu Buhari.