Human rights activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has warned that the growing public discontent with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration could ignite a mass protest movement reminiscent of the 2020 #EndSARS uprising, unless urgent reforms are implemented.
Speaking on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM Ilese-Ijebu, on Thursday, May 1, 2025, Sowore said the popular #TinubuMustGo campaign could snowball into a nationwide revolt if the administration continues on its current trajectory of failure across critical sectors.
“This administration is heading into its second year, and it is a second year of failure,” Sowore said. “By May 29th, President Tinubu will be celebrating his second year of failure in office. Failure in the economy, failure in security, in infrastructure, in food security, in water, and in paying a living wage to workers. Today is May Day, yet there’s no happy worker in Nigeria.”
Drawing parallels with the 2020 #EndSARS protests, which began as an online campaign against police brutality and grew into a decentralized mass movement, Sowore cautioned that the present level of hardship and frustration among Nigerians—especially the youth—could drive them back to the streets.
He, however, distanced the movement from the violence that marred the October 2020 Lekki Toll Gate shootings, stressing that the goal of the agitation is not destruction but democratic change through collective civil action.
While responding to criticisms labelling him a “political rascal,” Sowore hit back at the political class.
“Political rascals are the ones who carry out political assassinations and engage in deplorable activities,” he said.
“We are not rascals. Politicians only call us that when we don’t allow them to drain this country. It’s a misguided insult aimed at those trying to fix the system.”
Sowore also dismissed the wave of defections and political realignments currently sweeping across major parties ahead of the 2027 general elections, describing them as hollow and opportunistic.
“Political parties are supposed to unite like-minded people. Ironically, those now calling for coalition are the same ones who rejected it during the last election. They’ve weakened themselves,” he said.
He described most coalitions in Nigeria as “vehicles created to carry the next set of thieves to win the national treasury,” asserting that they serve personal ambitions rather than national interest.
The Revolution Now movement leader argued that genuine change requires the rejection of recycled leadership and the dismantling of entrenched political systems.
“When we want to break an old system, we need to jettison the pipeline that supplies the rotten ones into the system. Nigerians must take a collective decision to end the dominance of recycled leadership.”
On electoral reforms, Sowore called for a complete overhaul of Nigeria’s voting process. He criticized the recurring issuance of voters’ cards, proposing instead the use of existing identification documents such as national ID cards, international passports, or driver’s licenses to streamline voter registration.
He also condemned the wasteful spending on printing voters’ cards and alleged that many undistributed cards are manipulated during elections.
“The voters’ card has become more useful in banks than in elections. People vote on BBNaija from their homes without rigging; why can’t we apply similar technology in our elections?”
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