Basiru mocks Sowore’s presidential ambition, while the AAC candidate responds with a throwback photograph highlighting their shared history of activism against military rule.
A political spat has erupted between the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ajibola Basiru, and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore after the APC chieftain ridiculed Sowore’s political relevance over his party’s request to hold a campaign event at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The controversy followed the AAC’s request for approval to inaugurate its presidential campaign council at Aso Rock, prompting Basiru to dismiss Sowore as a skit maker and comedian and question his credibility as a presidential contender.
In a letter dated October 21, 2026, addressed to the President and signed by the party’s National Secretary, Oshiokhai Ikpeminioghena, the AAC sought permission to hold the inauguration on November 11, 2026. The party also requested food, drinks and other logistical support for participants at the proposed event.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, Basiru argued that Sowore should first prove his electoral strength at the state level before expecting Nigerians to take his presidential ambition seriously.
The APC secretary also ridiculed the AAC’s performance in the 2023 general election, claiming that rejected ballot papers attracted more votes than the party. While acknowledging their longstanding relationship from their student activism days, Basiru maintained that Sowore was not a serious contender in the presidential race.
Sowore responded on Wednesday night through a post on his X handle, taking the exchange beyond electoral performance and into their shared political past.
The AAC candidate recalled their activism in the 1990s, when both men opposed military dictatorship, and accompanied his response with a photograph he said was taken with Basiru in 1998, when he led the Congress of Progressive Youths (COPY).
The photograph, Sowore suggested, offered a reminder of a time when the two men stood together in the struggle for democracy, in sharp contrast to their present political differences.
He also hinted that the eventual fate of COPY provided an early indication of Basiru’s political transformation, but declined to offer further details.
The exchange has revived questions about the relationship between the two former allies, now positioned on opposite sides of Nigeria’s political divide, with the AAC’s request to use the Presidential Villa adding another twist to the dispute.
