Human rights activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, has emerged as the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC).
He emerged on Thursday when the AAC held its presidential primary elections in Abuja.
Delegates employed voice voting in line with electoral laws and unanimously affirmed Sowore as the party’s presidential candidate.
Sowore declared his interest in the presidency in March.
“The time for total freedom is now,” Mr Sowore said in his declaration.
The victory confirms Sowore’s second participation in Nigerian presidential elections.
He was the party’s candidate in 2019.
He garnered 33,953 votes at the polls, over opponents like Fela Durotoye of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) and Kingsley Moghalu of the Young Democratic Party (YPP).
Sowore ran his campaign on social and economic justice for Nigerians, the same critical issues he has used his Sahara Reporters online publication to champion for nearly two decades.
In 2019, months after participating in the presidential election, Sowore was arrested by the DSS for campaigning for a peaceful revolution. He was held without trial for months. A federal judge later granted him a bail that confined him to Abuja. He has continued to challenge the charges in court.
