AAC Responds to Deji Adeyanju, Clarifies Meaning of Opposition

AAC Responds to Deji Adeyanju, Clarifies Meaning of Opposition

“Opposition is not being in another ‘shop’ with a different brand name. It’s about having opposing ideology and different policy direction,” he explained. “This was why APC after being ‘opposition’ came to power and continued what Jonathan was doing, in fact made it worse. There was no opposing idea.”

A debate over the nature and authenticity of political opposition in Nigeria has been reignited following comments made by human rights lawyer Deji Adeyanju and a firm rebuttal by the Publicity Secretary of the African Action Congress (AAC), Adeyeye Olorunfemi.

Deji Adeyanju had earlier taken to social media to comment on what he perceived as ongoing friction between Omoyele Sowore, former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), and Peter Obi, former presidential candidate of the Labour Party.

Adeyanju lamented that “opposition should not be fighting opposition,” suggesting that a reconciliation should be brokered between the two figures. “I have tried to talk to Baba Sho [Sowore] in the past, but he said they are all thieves and that he cannot work with them,” Adeyanju stated, adding that “someone should be able to bring them to the table.”

In a detailed response, Adeyeye Olorunfemi questioned the very premise of Adeyanju’s statement, challenging what he described as a shallow understanding of the term “opposition.”

According to Olorunfemi, being in a different political party does not inherently make a politician an opposition figure. Rather, he argued, opposition must be defined by fundamentally different ideologies and policy directions.

“What exactly do you mean? Who are the ones in opposition?” Olorunfemi queried, noting that several high-profile politicians, including Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, and even Nasir El-Rufai, share the same policy stances as the ruling administration on critical issues.

He cited Obi’s support for the controversial naira redesign policy under former President Buhari, his alignment with President Tinubu on fuel subsidy removal, naira devaluation, defunding of social services, and privatization of national assets. Olorunfemi contended that these policy positions reveal a lack of ideological difference and undermine any claims of true opposition.

“Opposition is not being in another ‘shop’ with a different brand name. It’s about having opposing ideology and different policy direction,” he explained. “This was why APC after being ‘opposition’ came to power and continued what Jonathan was doing, in fact made it worse. There was no opposing idea.”

Reaffirming AAC’s stance, Olorunfemi emphasized that his party offers a clear and principled alternative to the ruling regime, advocating for social justice, public ownership of critical assets, and robust anti-corruption mechanisms.

The AAC spokesperson ended with a caution: “So please, when you use the word ‘opposition’, be guided.”

Why Sowore? Adeola Soetan writes

Why Sowore? Adeola Soetan writes

Why Sowore? She asked.

 

She asked me for my prefered presidential candidate

 

My reply: I voted for Obafemi Awolowo, I voted Gani Fawehinmi, so you should know my prefered candidate.

 

She said “so you are voting for Sowore, why? But he can’t win he doesn’t have money and he should just remain an activist.

 

My response: Well, I’m not a bandwagon voter, I don’t vote for who and who people think will win. That’s the height of idiocy. I don’t like to use my finger to do myself and start regretting it later like how many Nigerians are regretting now for voting Buhari and APC. They promised them better governance from the odd past but they make today worse than yesterday. Facts speak for themselves.

 

I’m voting Sowore mainly because he’s the only one who didn’t say he would remove a non existent petrol subsidy. You can’t talk of subsidy when all your refineries are consciously destroyed and a huge amount of your crude oil stolen on daily basis running into billions of Naira. Even candidate Buhari himself in 2015 said correctly that there’s no oil subsidy, he described it as fraud. He was right, as a former petroleum minister and former head of state, he’s well experienced to know that there was no oil subsidy in the real sense of it but subsidizing corruption and inefficiency in government and passing the yoke to poor Nigerians who are now paying over N300 per litre of petrol from the N87/litre .Buhari is like a sheep that flocks with dogs, feces will be its best meal.

 

The first major protest I participated as a student activist in Great Ife was against the so-called “oil subsidy” removal in 1988 during Babangida regime. Myself & Yinka Odumakin took the protest posters to UI and Ibadan Poly for mobilisation. The risk of entering back to the heavily militarized campus through the bushy sewage area was much to bear in the night. And since then every succesive looting government has been talking of oil subsidy removal to punish the people as stealing and inefficiency continues in government.

 

Sowore is the only candidate that publicly declared his assets. Others didn’t. You can’t fight corruption by hiding your own wealth, the source, your assets and liability should be known and verified. I think that’s a simple public morality aspiring public officers should observe if we are serious about fighting corruption.

 

She interjected: Sho you don’t know politics. Activism is different from politics..

 

I asked, please what is politics? Brigandage, looting, killing and maiming. Vote buying and selling, election rigging, unprincipled acts of political survival. So you don’t know that great politicians like Awolowo, Olufunmilayo Ransome Kuti, Margaret Ekpo, Mallam Aminu Kano, Nelson Mandela, Nnamdi Azikwe were activists and politicians. Madam, pls go and read your political history very well. Stop joining arrogant political illiterates who always spew rubbish that activism is different from politics just because they have been made to see politics in the wrong image of their rogue leaders. Pro-human politics is an extension of public good driven activism.

 

I asked her: Pls tell me your own understanding of politics for my enlightenment.

“Sho, .leave me alone, you are too opinionated, na you Sabi”

 

I asked again: “so you can’t tell me your own understanding of what you people call” politics? ”

 

” Goodnight Sho, pls leave me alone… ”

 

Adeola Soetan

OSUN 2022; OLUFEMI JOHNSON OF THE AAC IS OKAY

OSUN 2022; OLUFEMI JOHNSON OF THE AAC IS OKAY

OSUN DESERVES A NEW DAWN

We use this opportunity to inform that our candidates for the Governorship and Deputy Governorship offices in the Osun 2022 Elections are:

Olufemi  Eniola JOHNSON (Governorship)

Olugbenga Justus Odunewu (Deputy-Governorship)

Both are the properly elected candidates of the party in the forthcoming elections. The Sogbadero Team will bring a new spring of radical change to the whole of Osun, and save our people from the current fear of voting between the devil and the deep blue sea!

We condole with all Nigerians that are under the scourges of massive insecurities. We call on the Buhari government to stop trading with the lives of Nigerians through its inept, impune, and incompetent rulership of the country.

We believe that Nigerians should obtain their voters cards, engage massively in civil actions and take their destinies into their hands by voting the People’s Candidates and standing against all oppressions!

Another Nigeria is Possible!

Pastor Paul Enenche Invited Us To Arrest Activists Who Wore ‘Buhari Must Go’ T-Shirts To His Church – DSS

Pastor Paul Enenche Invited Us To Arrest Activists Who Wore ‘Buhari Must Go’ T-Shirts To His Church – DSS

Abiodun Sanusi

Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS) has admitted that it was the Dunamis International Gospel Centre (Glory Dome), Abuja, which called for the arrest of five human rights activists who wore the #BuhariMustGo T-Shirts to its church service last Sunday.

This is just as the whereabouts of the activists remain unknown with the DSS and the Dunamis Church refusing to take responsibility for the arrest and detention of the activists.

Earlier on, the FCT command of the DSS as well as the headquarters had both denied being in custody of five activists arrested by Dunamis church security.

“At a meeting with Pastor Paul Enenche yesterday, the pastor told Omoyele Sowore and Deji Adeyanju that the five activists were with DSS. However, the DSS vehemently denied holding the five activists.

“Meanwhile no one has heard from the activists since Sunday when church security attacked them and detained them in the church premises. Their phones have since been switched off,” a source revealed.

SaharaReporters learnt that the DSS and the church had first both denied arresting and detaining the human rights activists.

The worshippers were harassed and manhandled by the DSS officials and also denied food or sleep since Sunday in the DSS custody, SaharaReporters further learnt.

SaharaReporters learnt on Tuesday that the DSS had admitted that the Dunamis church called them to take away the “suspects.”

“About 48 hours after illegal arrest and detention by Dunamis church, we don’t know the whereabouts of these #BuhariMustGo activists,” one of the sources said.

The DSS has admitted that it was Pastor Enenche who called them.

At a meeting with Pastor Paul Enenche yesterday, the pastor told Omoyele Sowore and Deji Adeyanju that the five activists were with DSS. However, the DSS vehemently denied holding the five activists.

Meanwhile no one has heard from the activists since Sunday when church security attacked them and detained them in the church premises. Their phones have since been switched off.

“Two of them are said to be detained at the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad section of the state police command,” a source stated.

SaharaReporters had on Sunday reported that about ten activists went to the church on Sunday morning to worship at the church but some of them were surprisingly rounded up and arrested by the church security guards who later handed them over to the DSS operatives.

Five of the activists were whisked away in a Hilux van and two powerbikes.

SaharaReporters learnt on Tuesday that the state director of the DSS in the FCT was behind the detention of the activists.

“The five activists arrested at Dunamis are being detained by DSS director of FCT. They have been deprived of food and sleep since arrest,” a top source revealed.

The activists had been manhandled and beaten by the DSS operatives on the church premises, who also seized their mobile phones.

Human rights activists, Omoyele Sowore and Deji Adeyanju, had met with Enenche over the arrest of the activists.

While clarifying the matter, Sowore said the pastor denied claims by some persons that the activists were trying to disrupt the church service.

“We are adults and if we are tired of the system and we say the system must collapse, it is our right to express ourselves freely. I told the pastor when he said he was not happy when the activists were trying to protest within the premises that with the way things are going on, more and more people will be wearing #BuhariMustGo T-shirts to the church because people are tired of Buhari regime.

“We have a respectable agreement and some disagreements over this issue but what is important to me and why I don’t want to drag this for too long is the release of these individuals from detention.

“We are going to wait till evening because we requested that they should be released today (Monday). Nobody knows their whereabouts. We don’t know whether they have been fed or they have been tortured,” Sowore had said.

 

24th JUNE 2019: UPDATE ON LEGAL DEFENSE OF THE AFRICAN ACTION CONGRESS FROM UNSCRUPULOUS THIEVES

24th JUNE 2019: UPDATE ON LEGAL DEFENSE OF THE AFRICAN ACTION CONGRESS FROM UNSCRUPULOUS THIEVES

On the 24th of June 2019, the National Legal Adviser and other representatives of the AAC were in court to continue the spirited legal defence of the party from the scurrilous attempt to usurp its leadership by Leonard Nzenwa and his puppet-masters.

After adoption of processes by the lawyers for both sides, the presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, sitting in Court 6 of the Federal High Court, Central Area, Abuja opened the floor for adumbration by both lawyers.

In contrast to the lawyer representing Leonard and co, Inibehe Effiong Esq., the National Legal Adviser and counsel to the Party Chairman and Deputy, Omoyele Sowore and Malcolm Fabiyi, delivered a rousing, impassioned summary of the arguments against Mr. Nzenwa’s ill-conceived and bad-faith arguments. He ended by praying the court to not just dismiss their claims and prayers, but to do so with rebuke, and with substantial cost to Sowore and Dr. Fabiyi.

Despite the commencement of the 2019 judicial vacation on the 5th of July, 2019, the judge, in cognisance of the importance of the matter, offered to break his vacation on the 12th of July, 2019, to deliver judgement. Consequently, the case was adjourned to 12th of July, 2019, for judgement.

Other representatives in court were Barr. Sepre Oyeghe, who accompanied the lead counsel Mr. Effiong; Dr. Joshua Adeoye, the Ag. National Secretary, AAC; Mr. Philip Oshiokhue, the National Organising Secretary, AAC; Mr. Jude Eyah, the Administrative Secretary, AAC Headquarters; Miss. Oluwatosin Adeniji, a member of the Office of the Candidate, Take-It-Back; and Mr. Bob Benedict, a State executive of AAC, Federal Capital Territory.