Sowore Demands Tinubu’s Impeachment, Says President Cannot Run Nigeria From Abroad | Sahara Reporters
He addressed his cybercrime trial, his campaign plans, the opposition coalition he rejected, his participation in a pro-Palestine rally in New York, and the continued absence of President Tinubu from Nigeria.
Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, returned to Nigeria from the United States on Sunday and immediately resumed his criticism of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over his prolonged absence from the country and the state of governance.
Sowore arrived in Nigeria on Sunday, September 27, 2026, following his recent engagements in the United States. Shortly after his arrival, he spoke with SYMFONI journalists, where he criticised Tinubu over his prolonged absence from the country and raised concerns about the state of governance under the administration.
He addressed his cybercrime trial, his campaign plans, the opposition coalition he rejected, his participation in a pro-Palestine rally in New York, and the continued absence of President Tinubu from Nigeria.
His return comes weeks after the DSS directed its counsel to seek an adjournment of his cybercrime case until after the 2027 presidential election.
The agency said the move was intended to enable Sowore to participate fully in the electioneering process without the court proceedings becoming a hindrance.
Sowore, however, said he was not interested in merely postponing the case, insisting that the charges should be withdrawn altogether.
Responding to a question on whether his decision to return and face the legal battle could affect his eligibility or campaign for the 2027 presidential election, Sowore dismissed the possibility of being disqualified on the basis of what he described as a bogus charge.
“No, I can’t be disqualified on the basis of a bogus charge that they have laboured to prosecute, which led them to ask that they want to postpone the continuation of the trial after the election.”
Sowore maintained that, in his view, the trial should never have commenced.
“Our position is that a trial should never happen in the first place. There was no crime committed and it was an overreach and overzealousness on the part of the DG of DSS who belatedly didn’t realise that what he did was wrong.”
He said the DSS Director-General should instead apologise and return properties seized from him by security operatives since 2019.
“If he were to be a decent human being, he would apologise and return all my properties to me that the DSS took since 2019, including at this point over six phones,” he said.
Sowore also recalled his previous detention and treatment by security officials, saying he was detained with people suffering from tuberculosis.
“They forced me to be detained with persons with tuberculosis. So you all witnessed all this. So what we are asking them is to withdraw the charges and just eat the humble pie,” he said.
The DSS case followed social media posts in which Sowore referred to President Tinubu as a “criminal.” The agency approached the Federal High Court for a determination on whether such a description amounted to cyber-bullying under the Cybercrimes Act.
The DSS subsequently directed its counsel to seek an adjournment until after the 2027 presidential election, a decision Sowore and his legal team rejected. His lawyer, Olumide Fusika, has separately demanded that the charges be withdrawn or transferred to the Attorney-General of the Federation.
However, despite spending time outside Nigeria, Sowore said his presidential campaign never stopped.
According to him, his activities in the United States included meetings with Nigerians in the diaspora, international engagements and participation in demonstrations on global issues.
He described the Nigerian diaspora as a significant constituency and said one of his priorities, if elected president, would be to introduce diaspora voting.
“The Nigerian community in the diaspora have become almost a country. It has over 50 million members,” he said.
Sowore said he also addressed a town hall meeting in New York where he told Nigerians living abroad that they would have an opportunity to participate directly in Nigeria’s elections.
“When I’m elected as president of Nigeria, it will be one of my first acts in office. That’s diaspora voting. I won’t delay it for 24 hours,” he said.
He said his return would now enable him to intensify his campaign across the country.
Sowore used the interview to outline several policies he said would form part of his 2027 presidential campaign.
Among them, he mentioned a proposed ₦500,000 minimum wage, a massive housing programme, free education from primary school through university, infrastructure development and technological reforms in the security architecture.
“₦500,000 minimum wage is not a bad idea for people who are earning ₦70,000 a month,” he said.
He also said his administration would embark on a large-scale housing programme.
“We are proposing over a million houses that will start the first year of election,” Sowore said.
On education, he said, “For Nigerians who are largely without homes, we are proposing free education from primary school to the university.”
Sowore further promised massive infrastructure development and a technology-driven approach to security and anti-corruption.
“We are going to change the security architecture of the country by infusing technology and ensure that we fight corruption to a standstill in this country.”
He said technology would also be deployed to track government payments and eliminate alleged duplication of payments and abandoned or incomplete government projects.
“By using technology to ensure that we know what is coming in and to whom payments are made, the era of duplication of payments, non-completion of projects contracts is gone,” the presidential candidate said.
Sowore said he wants to create conditions that would allow Nigerians to enjoy what he called “peace, prosperity and progress.”
‘If Tinubu is not back, we should be talking about impeachment,” he said.
The most contentious portion of the interview came when Sowore was asked about comments he had previously made regarding President Tinubu’s absence from Nigeria.
Sowore had criticised the President’s prolonged stay outside the country and argued that Nigeria was effectively operating without a president.
The Presidency has said Tinubu’s absence was part of a working vacation and that he continued to direct affairs of government while abroad.
In a September 21 statement, the State House said Tinubu had remained in touch with developments at home and was expected to return to Nigeria at the weekend.
Sowore, however, maintained his position during the interview.
He referred to the constitutional provision concerning a president’s absence from Nigeria and argued that the requirement should be complied with transparently.
“I’m not aware that they have done what is right by their own constitution,” he said.
He added: “If the president is not in town after 21 days, he must transparently hand over to his deputy, in this case that is a VP.”
Sowore then directly questioned whether Tinubu had returned to Nigeria.
After being told that the Presidency had explained the President was on a working visit and could continue acting from wherever he was, Sowore rejected the explanation.
“No, he’s not. He can’t act wherever he is. There’s no working visitation. I mean visit for you have to be in town to be president of Nigeria.”
He continued: “You have to, even as a person aspiring to be president. I could have been gone and said that I’m doing a virtual campaigning and be with my family in the [US], but I spent two weeks with my family I hadn’t seen in 20 months. I had to be back on the ground.”
Sowore explained that the President’s physical absence raised constitutional questions and went as far as calling for impeachment if Tinubu remained outside the country.
“If he’s not back then we should be talking about his impeachment tomorrow morning,” he said.
“He’s no longer fit to continue as president. That means he’s incapacitated.”
Sowore referenced the prolonged absence of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the constitutional crisis that followed during the period when his health prevented him from performing presidential duties.
“If this guy goes on vacation, he can’t return. That’s how we got into Yar’Adua, Buhari. Nigeria cannot continue to the office use as a hospice for people who are unwell.”
He stressed that his comments were not an objection to anyone being ill but to what he described as the consequences of remaining in office while unable to physically discharge presidential responsibilities.
“There’s nothing wrong with being unwell. But if you are unwell, don’t hold the nation to ransom. Go take care of yourself and let people who at least are physically and mentally fit to run the country,” he said.
Sowore also defended his decision to reject attempts to bring him into an opposition coalition involving established political figures and parties.
He rejected the argument that refusing to join the coalition could weaken the opposition ahead of the 2027 election.
“I was never part of their own opposition. My own, I’m opposed to everything that is wrong with Nigeria, including this fake opposition people,” he said.
Sowore argued that the opposition figures had failed to establish a coherent political alternative and questioned their previous attempts to form a coalition.
“They fell apart. Now they had a G100 like two weeks ago. I heard he has fallen apart.”
He also said he warned Professor Pat Utomi not to include his name in the coalition discussions.
“He mentioned my name and I warned him never to include my name in that nonsense because I was never part of the scam,” he said.
Sowore insisted that his political ideology is fundamentally different from that of the politicians involved in the coalition.
“We don’t belong in the same spectrum of things. We don’t have the same ideological conviction. We don’t see things the same way.”
He accused the established political class of contributing to Nigeria’s problems and said he would not join them simply to create an appearance of a united opposition.
“We have never partaken in the destruction of Nigeria. They destroyed Nigeria. We can’t be part of them,” he said.
Explaining further why he refused to join the opposition coalition, Sowore said his campaign had specific positions on issues which he claimed the other political actors had not clearly articulated.
“They were for removal of subsidy two weeks ago. We have never been in support of removal of subsidy,” Sowore said.
He said his campaign had already stated its position on wages.
“We have an amount that we have stated as our minimum wage. They have no position on education. We have a position on education.”
He also criticised the absence of a clear healthcare policy among some opposition politicians.
“They have no position on healthcare because their own healthcare is flying abroad. We have a position on how to revamp the healthcare sector.”
Sowore dismissed suggestions that his refusal to join the coalition amounted to indirect support for Tinubu.
“That’s foolishness. They are the ones supporting the incumbent.”
He stated that several of the politicians involved had previously belonged to political structures associated with Tinubu.
“They used to be in the same party with Tinubu. Was I a member of Tinubu’s party at the time he was a candidate of a party? Have you ever seen me belong to any party that Tinubu was ever involved in?” he asked.
He described the argument as “cheap propaganda and blackmail,” insisting that he had maintained an independent political identity.
Sowore also addressed criticism over his participation in a pro-Palestine rally in New York during his recent US tour.
Some Nigerians, according to the interview, questioned why a presidential candidate would devote attention to an international conflict while campaigning on domestic issues.
Sowore said Nigeria had historically played a role in international struggles against oppression and argued that foreign policy and domestic politics could not be completely separated.
“This is why we must return education to Nigerians. And in our education curriculum, there must be history,” he said.
He said Nigerians had participated in major international struggles, including anti-apartheid campaigns and peacekeeping operations.
He cited Nigeria’s historical involvement in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and its military and peacekeeping engagements in different parts of Africa.
“Nigeria’s international policy has always been focused towards justice,” he said.
Sowore said his participation in the rally is consistent with his broader opposition to what he considers injustice, regardless of where it occurs.
“I’m against injustice. And at any rate, I fight against injustice at home.”
He cited his activism over the detention of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, as examples of his position.
“I fought for Nnamdi to be released, shut down Abuja. Went to Aba, shut it down. I fought for Igboho to be released. He’s a free man today,” he said.
He said his activism is not limited to people from a particular religious or ethnic background.
“So I fight for Christians. I fight for Muslims. I fight for people who are not even aligned with the two major religions that Nigeria claims it has,” he said.
Sowore also criticised Nigerian politicians over their positions on the Israel-Palestine conflict and said he had opposed Israeli government policies for many years.
“I’m an international citizen and I have been fighting against the state of Israel.”
He said his position dated back to his university days in the United States.
“Even when I was in the university in the US, I was one of the students who signed for the Columbia University to divest from the state of Israel as far back as 2003. It’s on record,” he said.