The African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has berated politicians who failed to protect their mandate in past elections.
He warned against leaving compromised elections for the courts to settle, adding that such a development would not be accepted in 2027.
Sowore shared his reservations at a plenary session of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Sowore urged voters not to repeat what he described as the mistakes of the 2023 election, when some politicians allegedly won mandates but failed to fight to protect them.
He specifically referenced former Kogi State senator Dino Melaye, describing him as his former friend, who had raised concerns about how candidates would protect their votes.
“Senator Dino Melaye, my former friend. Yes. And he was asking, and I agree with him truthfully, that how are we going to protect our votes,” Sowore said. “In case you don’t know, there are people in this hall, in large numbers, in 2023, who voted in an election, said they won, and abandoned the mandate. They did nothing to fight for their mandates. Don’t make that mistake of voting for those kinds of people again in your life.”
The AAC flag bearer said he would personally resist any attempt to deny him victory at the polls, insisting that voters should determine the winner on election day rather than through litigation.
“I am standing here. If anybody takes a vote on an election I won, the person will not be president of Nigeria; I can assure you that. Even if it takes my life,” he vowed.
Sowore vowed to fiercely defend any mandate given to him, insisting that elections must be concluded transparently at polling units rather than through judicial declarations.
“It is the reason why we must not rely on judges and lawyers to determine our elections,” Sowore said. “We don’t want our elections to go to your courts again. We must determine the winner of the election on the day of the election, so that the only thing a lawyer will do in an election is to help us swear in the winner of the election. Nothing more, nothing less.”
He warned that his supporters would not accept what he described as an unfair or non-credible election.
“If we can’t get that, we shut down the country until we get the right leader who won an election,” he said. “There is no way we can win if we don’t fight. And there is no way we can lose, since we are fighters.”
Sowore added: “Yes, we will win. No, we will not accede if it’s not fair and credible.”
