Sowore Hits Back at APC Secretary Basiru Over “Skit Maker” Jibe

Omoyele Sowore has fired back at Senator Ajibola Basiru, National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for calling him a “skit maker” and a “comedian.” Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, pointed to their shared past in the fight against military rule.

He accused Basiru of turning his back on the democratic ideals they once defended.

What Basiru Said

Basiru made the remarks on Wednesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today. He questioned Sowore’s political relevance. He also claimed that rejected ballot papers got more votes than the AAC in the 2023 general elections.

He further challenged Sowore to prove his electoral strength first. In his view, Sowore should win a seat in a State House of Assembly before expecting to be taken seriously nationally.

Sowore’s Response

Sowore replied in a statement on X. He shared a 1998 photo of himself with Basiru, taken when he led the pro-democracy group Congress of Progressive Youths (COPY).

“I watched an interview on Politics Today on Channels Television, anchored by Seun Okinbaloye, in which the APC National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, called me a ‘skit maker’ and ‘comedian’,” he wrote.

Sowore said he received Basiru at the University of Lagos after the University of Ilorin expelled him in 1992 over student activism. According to him, he and other activists, including Kunle Adegoke, popularly called K-Rad, helped Basiru return to university to study law.

“Both eventually graduated with flying colours and went on to accomplish great things,” he said.

He added that he was disappointed by the comments, given what they went through together. Activism for justice and freedom, he insisted, is not entertainment.

“The struggle for justice, democracy, freedom and the preservation of human dignity is neither skit-making nor comedy,” he said.

“Tinubu’s Regime Will Come and Go”

Sowore also rejected Basiru’s argument that opposition politicians should feel ashamed for losing to President Bola Tinubu in 2023. He called that position flawed. An election loss, he said, does not erase the principles opposition figures stand for.

He described political appointments as temporary. “Tinubu’s regime will come and go, just like the military regimes we confronted in our youth,” he said.

Sowore closed by accusing former activists now in power of abandoning their old principles.

“What is truly comical is watching yesterday’s beneficiaries of resistance become today’s defenders of the very oppression they once fought against,” he wrote.