Activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has said he would retain fuel subsidy if elected president, arguing that removing it has worsened economic hardship for Nigerians.
Speaking with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, Sowore said subsidy could be sustained while the government addresses the corruption and leakages associated with its implementation, stressing that Nigerians should not be made to bear the burden of government failures.
“My plan for subsidy is that it will not be removed. So, it’s corruption. The person who can sustain subsidy and support for the poor, and who can at the same time fight corruption, is the person you should go with—not the person who was part of those looting the subsidy funds before, who had benefited from sabotaging the masses, who now claims that the masses have to be blamed,” he argued.
Sowore also said his position on subsidy had been clearly articulated in his policy proposals, including how his administration would fund and sustain the programme if elected.
“We have put this on paper. I have manifestos. By the way, I have developed an application—the only presidential candidate with an app, it’s called SoworeNow. You can go there, sign up, and all of this is explained: A, B, C, D, where we will get the money from to sustain subsidy and how subsidy will work,” he disclosed.
Speaking on how he would fund the subsidy, Sowore said his administration would revive Nigeria’s four refineries and expand local refining to reduce the cost of importing refined petroleum products.
He said the government would ensure that every naira allocated to subsidy reaches Nigerians, while removing the “cabal” he blamed for benefiting from the system.
“You have four refineries in Nigeria, none of which are working. I can make them work. I will make it work because if you are refining locally, even if you are saving 10 Naira per gallon, that’s a huge amount of money considering that you are consuming about 60 million liters of fuel on a daily basis.
“I’m restoring subsidy, I made that clear. What will be missing in restoration is that nobody will have a chance to import fuel that did not arrive here. I was one of the major journalists in my time with Sahara Reporters who uncovered the first major scandal around subsidy ‘tips,’ as we used to call them. We found out during that period that there was a ship that had capsized 10 years before that was recorded as bringing in petrol to Nigeria. All of that will no longer exist under our government. We will make sure that every dime spent on subsidy is not stolen; it gets to the people. You remove the cabal, subsidy is in order; you keep them in place, subsidy is out of order,” he said.
Responding to questions about his governance experience and vision for Nigeria, Sowore said many of the ideas he had advocated for years are now being adopted by political leaders, insisting that his record demonstrates his understanding of the country’s challenges.
“Your experience is derived from what you believe in, what’s your passion, what’s your goal in life. Mine was to bring about good governance and to establish democracy. If I didn’t fight for democracy, Rotimi Amaechi would not be standing there yesterday. Leadership is about passion, mission, and vision.
“That is why I’m saying that they owe me a lot for creating the avenue for them to become leaders. Even though they didn’t fight for what made them become leaders, I did, and that’s where my experience came from. That is leadership in its own way: to be courageous, to have conviction, and to fight for it in such a way that it benefits everybody. As a matter of fact, most of the ideas you are seeing that they are picking now, we started fighting for them. Then the people claiming experience are now towing my own path,” he asserted.
Sowore, who has repeatedly called for the dismantling of Nigeria’s political establishment, said his confrontation with the political class in Port Harcourt demonstrated what he would do if given the opportunity to take power.
He said his administration would hold accountable those who had denied Nigerians a better life, arguing that transitional justice was necessary to move the country forward. Sowore also maintained that the political figures he confronted failed to adequately defend their records, instead arguing that he could not win an election.
“I’m not going to prevent anybody from living their life, but we all have a duty as a country to ensure that if somebody prevented others from having a great life, and we can prove that they have done that, there’s no country in the world that doesn’t do transitional justice in order to move forward.
“In Port Harcourt yesterday—by word of mouth, I dismantled them. Yes! Can you imagine what we will do when we have the opportunity to take over power? That’s probably what frightens people. We’ll make sure that we do everything right by our people, which they haven’t done. They had no defense to my questions to them or issues that were discussed. All they were saying is, ‘Sowore cannot win an election.'”
Responding to questions about what would replace the political establishment, Sowore said Nigeria needs a new leadership capable of enforcing order and changing the culture that has allowed poor governance to persist. The presidential candidate said his administration would establish an orderly society without resorting to coercion, while replacing the old political class with a new generation of competent leaders who can govern effectively and live within their means.
“You can bring order to the forefront so that everybody understands that we are in an orderly society. It’s leadership that brings about that. If they find the right leadership, Nigerians are actually easier to transition to situations that are better.
“A brand-new leadership that is devoid of all these characters you are mentioning, who brought us to this situation, is necessary—a revolutionary leadership that comes in, cleans up the Augean stables, replaces the country with new leaders, vibrant people, people who have capacity to think world-class, and are living within their means, not entitled characters who have ruined the country, who keep coming back and being recycled. That is the problem,” he insisted.
On the possibility of joining a political coalition, Sowore rejected the idea of working within the existing political system, saying such arrangements are designed to compromise the conscience of those who enter them.
“This was presented to me as far back as the ’90s, even under the military. We were approached that you can change things from within, and we made it very clear, having had experience—that’s why I tell you I have a lot of experience with these people—that whenever they lure you into that kind of arrangement, they want to bury your conscience. That system is the cemetery of human conscience. The moment you get there, they know what to do to cage you, to compromise you in such a way that by the time you see me after nine months in that kind of arrangement, you will not recognize the Sowore that is sitting here,” he said.
Highlighting what is different about his 2027 campaign, Sowore said his consistent stance and willingness to engage Nigerians would help convince more people that he can deliver the change they are seeking. He urged Nigerians to change direction and reject renewed hopelessness, insisting that the solution they are looking for could come from among them.
“Yesterday. I walked out of that hall yesterday very convinced that Nigerians have seen what I’ve always been. I never change. I’ve never changed. I’ve always been like this. But we must keep having the opportunity to talk, to reach out to more people, that they need to change trajectory. There is somebody out here amongst you who can make the change you are looking for happen—not renewed hopelessness,” he urged.
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