Oshiomhole says Sowore shouldn’t have participated in 2019 elections if he wanted a revolution

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole has faulted the Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore for planning a revolution five months after he lost at the polls.

Sowore was arrested on Saturday, August 3, 2019, by men of the Department of State Services (DSS)for spearheading a nationwide protest tagged #RevolutionNow; Day of Rage.

Speaking with journalists on the arrest of Sowore on Wednesday, August 7, 2019, Oshiomhole said he believes in people’s rights to protest but not a revolution to overthrow an elected government.

He added that the activist, who is the Publisher of SaharaReporters, should not have participated in the 2019 elections if he wanted a revolution.

Omoyele Sowore says Nigerians must fight incompetence in the leadership of the country [Twitter@YeleSowore] Pulse Nigeria

He said, “What was the reason for protest? Let’s be honest. I have led series of protests, even to this villa. Whoever wants to protest should articulate the particulars of his grievances and make specific demands about the solutions that he wants.”

“So what exactly as far as you know as members of the fourth estate of the realm, that Sowore, the publisher of Sahara reporters, a presidential candidate, cleared by INEC to bid for power, who had the opportunity to ask Nigerians to vote for him. Now Nigerians have voted, the votes have been counted and he was not a favoured candidate, what does he want now? That Nigerians must make him the president?

“Because we all have to be careful, nobody should talk as if we have another country. We have challenges but somehow we have all resolved as a people that the way and route to power in the ballot box. Our task as a people is to continue to work to clean up the system so that only Nigerians alone shall determine who governs them at all levels. That I believe is a legitimate thing to fight for. But if you want to overthrow, you want a revolution then he should have spared us the INEC putting him on the ballot paper.

“I don’t want to talk about this but I believe Nigerians have a right to protest, I believe people have a right to contest issues, people have the right to disagree. I have often said government doesn’t have the right to dictate to people how to protest, but you must state exactly what you want. I ask you to name any country in the world where somebody stands up and say after the election that I contested and lost, now, therefore, I want revolution.”

The former governor of Edo state also said that when he was the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), he organised protests against the government in order to defeat a set of anti-people policies and not to remove the president from office.

He said there is a difference between the type of protest he organised and partook in and the one Sowore planned.