Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has explained his absence from Saturday’s opposition summit held in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.
Leaders of opposition parties in Nigeria at the summit on Saturday resolved to present a single presidential candidate in the 2027 general election.
Parties represented at the summit included the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Labour Party (LP), and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Prominent politicians in attendance were Atiku Abubakar, Aminu Tambuwal, Peter Obi, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Rauf Aregbesola, David Mark, and Pat Utomi, among others.
Speaking via a statement on Sunday, April 26, 2026, Sowore said he deliberately stayed away from what he described as a gathering of “recycled failures.”
Sowore, who leads the African Action Congress (AAC), said although he received an invitation to the meeting, he declined to participate, stressing that Nigerians deserve a credible alternative rather than what he termed a repackaging of politicians who had previously failed the country.
According to him, many of the individuals involved in the summit had been part of administrations that presided over corruption, stagnation, and systemic decline, noting that such figures cannot suddenly reposition themselves as champions of progress.
Sowore stated: “There is no need to pretend that the same men (and a few women) who held Nigeria to ransom for years, presiding over stagnation, corruption, and systemic decay, can suddenly reinvent themselves as champions of progress or defenders of the people.
“Not all Nigerians are suffering from amnesia.
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“For the avoidance of doubt, our revolutionary party, the African Action Congress (AAC), will not be part of any charade designed to recycle failed political actors under the guise of ‘opposition’.
“Instead, we are committed to presenting a formidable, people-driven alternative, one rooted in integrity, accountability, and genuine transformation.”
Sowore added that Nigeria’s political future should not be shaped by what he described as a rearrangement of “broken pieces,” but by a decisive break from past leadership failures.
He said: “We will mobilise Nigerians across the country to rally behind a credible vision that rejects the decadence and deception represented by both the APC and their opportunistic counterparts in ADC, PDP, Labour Party, and elsewhere
“Nigeria does not need a rearrangement of the same broken pieces, it needs a complete break from the past.”