Omoyele Sowore, the Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 general elections, has firmly rejected the bail conditions presented to him by the police. Sowore, who is currently in police custody, expressed that he would not accept President Bola Tinubu as his bail surety, even if the president volunteered for the role. The rejection follows his arraignment over allegations of cyberstalking, negligent acts, and intimidation.
Sowore’s legal troubles stem from a viral video in which he confronted officers who had stopped his vehicle at a checkpoint in Lagos. The video, which quickly gained traction on social media, led to his arrest and subsequent arraignment. Sowore was charged with actions that allegedly led to public disorder and intimidation of law enforcement officers.
On Monday, January 27, Sowore was arraigned in court, and the court adjourned the ruling on his bail application until Thursday, January 30. However, Sowore made his stance clear when speaking to journalists in a video, where he rejected the bail conditions outright, describing them as “laughable,” “frivolous,” and “ridiculous.”
“I cannot in good conscience continue to participate in illegality because I have made it very clear that the police have no right to grant administrative bail that asks for civil servants to own, first and foremost, N100 million houses, which is a crime; that’s a corruption to stand bail for me, who is an employer of labour,” Sowore said during the video statement.
The conditions presented to Sowore reportedly included the requirement for a civil servant to stand as surety for him, with a demand that the surety own property worth at least N100 million. Sowore, who is a prominent activist and the publisher of the internationally renowned news website Sahara Reporters, argued that these conditions were not only inappropriate but also indicative of systemic corruption.
“I’m a publisher of an internationally renowned news website. I have people who I hired in Nigeria and abroad. I’m not a civil servant. In fact, I’m an uncivil citizen who is against all kinds of corruption,” Sowore stated. His strong rejection of the conditions was based on his long-standing stance against the corruption that he believes permeates Nigeria’s political and legal systems.
The activist and politician continued, emphasizing the insult he felt at being asked to provide a high-ranking civil servant as a surety. “I have spent my entire life fighting against corruption. So, to now ask me, to insult me that I should provide a level 17 director, who had not gotten employment when I was fighting for democracy in 1992… It’s a biggest insult.”
Sowore further criticized the demand for a civil servant to stand as surety for him, especially considering his own fight for democracy and against corruption, which he has long championed. He made it clear that he found the bail conditions insulting, considering the people who had struggled alongside him for democracy, many of whom were still facing challenges.
In a dramatic conclusion to his statement, Sowore declared that he would reject any attempt by anyone, including President Bola Tinubu, to act as his surety. “Even if President Bola Tinubu had appeared as my surety, I would have rejected that very laughable, frivolous, ridiculous, and I dare say stupid bail condition,” he said emphatically.
