Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 general election, has strongly opposed the federal government’s imposition of an administrator on Rivers State. In this interview, Sowore stated that it’s time for Nigerians to be involved in their country’s affairs. INIOBONG IWOK brings the excerpts:
This issue of a godfather and a godson having disagreement that later led to the whole crisis in Rivers State is rampant in the country. So, which of the aspects do you think is faulty; the beginning, the end or the whole thing?
Talking about Nyesom Wike and the issue of godfather or godson, I don’t care what happened to them or how they destroyed themselves. But it is important to state that we have seen impunity in action when we can sacrifice one of Nigeria’s richest states. This is because of what happened during the 2023 general elections in the state. They are looking at the issue beyond today and how it would help in the next election. That is where it is coming from. You would see that every process that led to this was aimed at consolidating power.
That means certain people can do some things in this country and they would come to pass. They would just say that we don’t care about your constitution or your democracy. They would do that and they would wake up the next day and they want us to move forward. I am happy that they are pouring gasoline into the situation so that maybe Nigerians would wake up and do the needful.
Why would you be happy that they are pouring gasoline on the issue, would you be happy that they are causing mayhem in the state?
There cannot be peace without justice, we are not calling for mayhem, they are the ones that introduced mayhem. We are not the ones that said that a democratically elected governor should be removed and that a sole administrator should be put in place immediately. They cannot even wait for the National Assembly to decide on the matter before releasing the allocation of the state to somebody who has not been voted for by the people of Rivers State.
The Supreme Court said that they should not release money to the state without democratic principles, now they have moved on with total lack of democracy. So, the reason I am happy is because maybe this is going to cause Nigerians to wake up, I think Nigerians have been too complacent, they have been too docile, they have been showing cowardice and more and more people are seeing that we need to come together and join hands to liberate this country. We can’t just keep living like this and make progress. The people that ought to make progress are anti-progress. That is not to say that I love anarchy, but I love justice, which cannot be like the peace of the graveyard in Nigeria.
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You heard the Attorney General saying that the President has done the right thing, what do you say to that?
Nigerians have the crisis of some of these people supporting illegality. Each time there is some kind of crisis and dictatorship, the person that should go against it is supporting it. You see them supporting impunity. How can they say this it is right, when this is terrible. It’s like some people are trying to be in control. They don’t care about you. I just hope that Nigerians would not let this slide like some other infractions. The damage has been done already.
I hope when you are saying that Nigerians should not let this slide, you are not calling for anarchy because whatever is being done should be within the confines of the law?
I don’t know why you are gaslighting me with anarchy. What just happened in Rivers State is anarchy, somebody just imposed someone that was not democratically elected on the people and you removed someone that was democratically elected by the people. You cannot gaslight me with anarchy, anarchy is what the federal government imposed on the people, the response of the people is not what you should use to gaslight people like me. You know I don’t care about labels. You just imposed a stooge. What you are doing is wrong and it’s lawless, which is what they call anarchy.
With what you are saying and some of your tweets in recent times, does it not bother you that you could have another issue with the authorities. Are you ready for another round of trips to court and the consequences that come with it?
There is nothing I have not been charged with in this country. I have been charged with breach of peace, and I have been charged with treason. What they do about me is not the issue but the situation of the Nigerian people so that the future of this country is secured. We have had people who are in positions today who have been charged in the past. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was charged with treason, and he is president today. I have been charged with a lot of things, but that will not stop us from doing what we need to do to fix our country and liberate our people.
My passport has been seized and a lot of things have been done to us. We are not going to be deterred by that, but we will continue to do our best to ensure that this country is what we can call our own. That is more than all the charges put together. We were in court for five years under former president Muhammed Buhari.
Now, if you were to be the president of Nigeria, what would you have done differently in Rivers State?
I don’t deal with hypothesis and I am not going to be President where you have this kind of situation in Rivers State like we have on our hands. As the president, you have to wake up and go to work on behalf of the Nigerian people. But when you wake up and go to work for a different reason, you will have more than what you have in Rivers State in your hands.
I have been around for 33 years and Nigeria is, maybe, 65 years old, I have taken up half of that in my lifetime to ensure that people get their rights and that things are done in the right way. You can see what is happening in the Niger Delta and other places, so I don’t deal with hypothesis.
You all promote people whose integrity are in doubt, and you hype them, which is why this country is in a mess. You ask them to come and defend themselves. They show up with lies and deception everyday, which is why this country is in a mess. We should not run the country down and chase the people all over the place.
I have gone through almost 10 presidents till date from former president Ibrahim Babangida to the man that is there now. Some people have come before me, the late Gani Fawehinmi was hounded in this country, they said he was a liar, that he was not who he claimed he was, and that he was troublesome. The same thing happened to the late Fela Anikulapo.
Everybody who had done good in this country was paid back with evil. I am not here looking for validation, I am looking for a country where there is freedom.
We are journalists, we report what happens, you also reported the same then. Whether it’s good or bad, our job is to report. The question is that what you would have done differently, this would help Nigerians?
What I would have done differently is not to vote for people anyhow because the consequences are there every day. I would not be a president that works for special interest. I hope you create a platform for good people to shine. I am just talking about how all of us have not done what we ought to do.
What is the way forward on the issue going on in Rivers State because that is important to the people of the state?
I am not here to defend Siminalayi Fubara, he is part of them. I am speaking on behalf of the people of Rivers State whose resources would now be controlled by a sole administrator.
The solution is for the people to liberate themselves as we have been going through these circles and mismanagement of our resources for a long time.
If we don’t do something about it, you will see that we will not get anywhere. I want this country to move forward and make progress. I read about 10 African countries that are doing well, Nigeria is not among them.
We have seen smaller countries and others making progress. Mauritius, South Africa, and some other countries that we used to assist with handouts some 30 to 40 years, are doing well now. That’s what concerns me more than what we are doing now.
