The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Ajibola Basiru, has mocked the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, claiming that rejected ballot papers attracted more votes than his party in the 2023 general election.
Basiru made the remark while dismissing Sowore’s political relevance following the AAC’s request to inaugurate its 2027 presidential campaign council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, the APC chieftain described the activist as a comedian and skit maker, insisting that he had yet to demonstrate sufficient electoral strength to be taken seriously as a presidential contender.
“Even rejected ballot papers had more votes than his party in the 2023 election. So that means that a rejected ballot paper is more popular than his party, so he’s just making skits,” Basiru said.
He challenged Sowore to first secure an electoral victory at the state level before seeking recognition as a serious political contender.
“Let him struggle to even get a seat in the House of Assembly as a politician, and then people will begin to take him seriously,” he added.
Basiru, however, acknowledged his longstanding relationship with Sowore, saying both men were involved in student activism during their younger years.
“Sowore is a skit maker. You know he’s my friend. All of us were in the trenches as a student union. He’s a skit maker. He knows that wouldn’t happen,” the APC national secretary said.
The exchange followed a letter dated October 21, 2026, in which the AAC requested approval to inaugurate its presidential campaign council at the Presidential Villa on November 11.
The letter, signed by the party’s National Secretary, Oshiokhai Ikpeminioghena, also sought logistical assistance, including food and drinks for participants at the proposed event.
SOWORE RECALLS PAST ACTIVISM WITH BASIRU
Reacting to Basiru’s comments in a post on his X account on Wednesday night, Sowore recalled their shared history as student activists who opposed military dictatorship in the 1990s.
The AAC presidential candidate accompanied his response with a photograph he said was taken with Basiru in 1998, when he led the Congress of Progressive Youths.
“I am presenting here a photograph I took with Ajibola in 1998, when I led the Congress of Progressive Youths (COPY), and we were both in the trenches fighting against military dictatorship,” Sowore wrote.
He said their shared history made Basiru’s comments particularly disappointing, adding that he would reserve further remarks about the eventual fate of the youth organisation.
Sowore also rejected Basiru’s argument that opposition candidates should be ashamed of losing the 2023 presidential election, which was won by President Bola Tinubu of the APC.
“His premise is that because Bola Ahmed Tinubu was declared ‘winner’ by INEC in the deeply flawed 2023 presidential election, those of us who contested against him should somehow be ashamed of losing,” he said.
The activist further recalled helping Basiru and Kunle Adegoke, popularly known as K-Rad, who is now a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, during their academic journeys.
According to Sowore, he provided support that helped both men gain admission to study law after Basiru encountered difficulties at the University of Ilorin in 1992 over his involvement in student activism.
He said both men eventually completed their studies and achieved professional success.
‘STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE IS NOT COMEDY’
Defending his political activism, Sowore maintained that his commitment to democracy, human rights and social justice should not be dismissed as entertainment.
“The struggle for justice, democracy, freedom and the preservation of human dignity is neither skit-making nor comedy,” he said.
He accused Basiru of abandoning the ideals they once shared in opposing military rule, arguing that the APC chieftain had become influenced by the privileges associated with his current political position.
“It is unfortunate that he has become so carried away by the fleeting privileges of his current political position that he now ridicules the very struggle that helped shape his own future,” Sowore added.
The activist also argued that political power was temporary and predicted that the Tinubu administration would eventually leave office.
“Political appointments are temporary. Tinubu’s regime will come and go, just like the military regimes we confronted in our youth,” he said.
Sowore concluded that his commitment to freedom and justice would outlast the political positions currently occupied by those who once shared his struggle.
“The struggle for freedom is not comedy. What is truly comical is watching yesterday’s beneficiaries of resistance become today’s defenders of the very oppression they once fought against,” he said.
