“Even If Tinubu Appeared as My Surety, I Would Have Rejected Him” – Sowore

Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 elections, has declared that he would not accept President Bola Tinubu as his surety, even if the president volunteered.

Sowore, who is currently in police custody, was arraigned on charges of cyberstalking, negligent acts, and intimidation. His arrest followed a viral video in which he confronted police officers who stopped his vehicle at a checkpoint in Lagos. The court has adjourned ruling on his bail application to Thursday, January 30.

Speaking in a video, Sowore criticized the bail conditions set for his release, calling them laughable and illegal. He argued that the police had no authority to demand administrative bail terms requiring civil servants to own property worth ₦100 million.

“I cannot in good conscience participate in illegality,” Sowore stated. “The police have no right to set a bail condition that effectively demands corruption. I am an employer of labor, a publisher of an internationally recognized news platform, and not a civil servant. To require a Level 17 director, who was not even employed when I was fighting for democracy in 1992, to stand surety for me is an insult.”

He further emphasized that even if President Tinubu had offered to stand as his surety, he would have rejected it, describing the bail condition as “laughable, frivolous, ridiculous, and stupid.”