AAC kicks Sowore out of party

The Leonard Ezenwa-led faction of the African Action Congress (AAC) has expelled its national chairman, Omoyele Sowore, from the party.

Sowore had been suspended in May by the AAC's National Executive Committee (NEC) for alleged anti-party activities and financial misappropriation.

He was suspended, alongside eight others, during a special NEC meeting, with Ezenwa, the party's national secretary, immediately sworn in as acting chairman.

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

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

However, a Federal High Court in Abuja last month ordered Sowore to stop parading himself as the AAC chairman after Ezenwa approached the court to seek a legal backing for his suspension.

The Ezenwa-faction has now completely expelled Sowore from the party, alongside 28 others, a decision that was reached during the party's national convention in Owerri, Imo State on Friday, August 9.

The party also immediately announced Ezenwa as its new substantive national chairman.

Sowore's post election troubles

Sowore has had an eventful past few months [Twitter@YeleSowore] Pulse Nigeria

Sowore had claimed several times that the attempt by the Ezenwa faction to take over the party is sponsored by outside forces in a bid to destabilise the party.

The 48-year-old 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.

ALSO READ: How DSS arrested Sowore over RevolutionNow movement (Video)

He was arrested by the DSS on Saturday, August 3, 2019 for calling for nationwide protests, tagged RevolutionNow, against the Buhari-led government he accused of badly managing the affairs of the country.

After the DSS picked him up on Saturday, the agency accused him of threatening the harmony of the nation by plotting to overthrow a democratically-elected government.

A Federal High Court in Abuja granted the DSS' ex-parte application which allows the agency to keep him in custody for 45 days pending the conclusion of its investigation.