Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has criticised the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ajibola Basiru, claiming he helped him gain admission to the University of Lagos (UNILAG) after his expulsion from the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN).
Sowore made the claim in a response posted on his X account on Thursday, October 22, 2026, following Basiru’s description of him as a skit maker and comedian during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.
In his response, Sowore shared a photograph taken with Basiru in 1998, when he led the Congress of Progressive Youths (COPY) in the struggle against military dictatorship.
According to Sowore, Basiru moved to the University of Lagos after being expelled from UNILORIN in 1992 over student activism.
He said he received Basiru alongside Kunle Adegoke, popularly known as K-Rad, who is now a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Sowore claimed they provided both men with support and an enabling environment to apply for readmission, gain admission to UNILAG and study Law.
“I received him alongside Kunle Adegoke, popularly known as K-Rad, who is now a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. We provided them with an enabling environment to apply to re-enter the university, gain admission, and study Law at the University of Lagos,” Sowore said.
He added that both men eventually graduated with excellent results.
The AAC presidential candidate also faulted Basiru’s argument that those who contested against President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election should be ashamed because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Tinubu the winner.
Sowore maintained that the struggle for justice, democracy and freedom should not be dismissed as comedy.
“The struggle for justice, democracy, freedom and the preservation of human dignity is neither skit-making nor comedy. Ajibola knows this because he was once part of that struggle and benefited from the solidarity of those who refused to surrender to military tyranny,” he said.
The human rights activist further argued that political appointments were temporary, adding that the Tinubu administration, like the military regimes they opposed in their youth, would eventually come to an end.
“What is truly comical is watching yesterday’s beneficiaries of resistance become today’s defenders of the very oppression they once fought against,” Sowore added.
