The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress and activitist, Omoyele Sowore, has insisted that President Bola Tinubu is ill and undergoing treatment in France, alleging that the Presidency is misleading Nigerians about his health and ability to discharge his duties.
Speaking with Arise News in an interview on Monday, Sowore said his claim was based on information from what he described as reliable sources, adding that he could not disclose the nature of Tinubu’s alleged ailment.
“Some of those reliable sources have said that Tinubu has been undergoing treatment. I don’t know what his ailment is because I don’t have his details, and that is why they have not discharged him from the hospital.
“What you see—those apparitions, appearances once in a while where he is meeting with people—is designed to fool the public down here,” he said.
Sowore drew parallels between Tinubu’s situation and the health crises involving former Presidents Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari, saying similar assurances had previously been used to suggest that an ailing president could govern from anywhere.
“If you see some of the language they are using, it’s similar to when Yar’Adua was sick, when Buhari was sick, and when he was in the hospital for a long time: ‘The President can govern from anywhere.’ That’s not what the law says in Nigeria.”
He also referenced Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution, arguing that its provisions were introduced following the Yar’Adua episode and require the President to formally transfer power after being away for 21 days under the circumstances specified by the Constitution.
“What is interesting about where we are—that section of the Constitution, Section 145, Subsection 1 and Subsection 2—is that it came into existence as a result of our struggle against the Yar’Adua government or President Umaru Yar’Adua late, because it was the same motion Nigeria went through. For five solid months in this country, Yar’Adua was brain-dead but was running Nigeria.
“It was therefore inserted that if you are President of Nigeria and you are away for 21 days, you are required by law—by the Constitution of Nigeria—to hand over. You must write a letter handing over after 21 days. If you don’t do that, the National Assembly must invoke that by making your Vice the Acting President. We have gone past that threshold of 21 days.”
Responding to questions about Tinubu’s expected return to Nigeria, Sowore said his return would not necessarily mean that he was fit to fully discharge his responsibilities as President.
“The fact that he’s due back tomorrow doesn’t mean that he will return tomorrow. Even when he returns, they can package him to return back to Nigeria but still not be functioning as he should.”
Asked about evidence for his claim, Sowore said he had information from sources he considered reliable, while also pointing to Tinubu’s physical appearance and his being held by the hand during a meeting with the French President.
“That Tinubu is sick, there’s no question about it. Without providing paper evidence, you saw what happened when he met the President of France—they were holding him by the hand. How do you know if a person is sick? Physical frailty.”
Defending his claim, Sowore said he was not legally required to disclose his evidence, but maintained that the information he had was credible and would eventually prove him right.
“In my own case, I’m not even duty-bound to provide you with evidence, but I’m saying that you can trust that the evidence I am going to give is true because I have provided similar evidence in the past.”
On whether he would withdraw the claim if it turned out that Tinubu was not hospitalised, the presidential candidate said he would first need to visit France and verify the President’s movements and engagements.
“He would have to take me to France, visit everybody he visited, everywhere he’s been, before I can accept such a thing. You have to take me to France.”
Speaking on the AAC’s planned lawsuit to trigger an impeachment process against Tinubu and the constitutional basis for it, Sowore said the party would challenge the President’s alleged failure to transfer power to the Vice President after 21 days.
“Section 145, Subsection 1 and Section 145, Subsection 2 are constitutional provisions that have been violated by the President in this particular exercise of an illegal vacation. After 21 days and his refusal to hand over, he has committed an impeachable offense because he has violated the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that he swore to protect.
“The consequences are clear: he must be set aside until he returns and his fitness is certified. Until that period, the Vice President is the Acting President.
“By the way, do not take this to mean that I feel the Vice President is better than the President. As a matter of fact, our position is that even if Tinubu were to be in town, the country is running as a rudderless state. While he is in town, things are terrible, but we’re just reminding them of what the law says.”
He added that the party would ask the court for an injunction to compel the National Assembly to act, arguing that lawmakers must address alleged constitutional breaches involving the President.
“We are allowing the court to determine whether what he has done is wrong or right, but we are importantly asking for an injunction to trigger the National Assembly. They must take a position on every constitutional breach.”
On the DSS case against him, Sowore said the agency had reversed its earlier position to suspend the trial ahead of the 2027 elections, insisting that there was no basis for the prosecution and calling for the case to be dismissed.
“They thought that by saying in last August that they were no longer going to continue with my trial, I would be grateful to them and stop criticizing the President, according to them. That was their calculation. I also think that it was a period of tension considering how things were going on within the courtroom and beyond the courtroom. But now they’ve realized that that is not going to happen, that I do not deal on those levels, and decided to take us to court.
“We made it very clear that there was no case in the first place, and instead of asking for an illegal postponement.”
Sowore said he rejected the proposed suspension because he believed the DSS was seeking to create the impression that it respected his human rights and his right to participate in the democratic process.
“They were doing a number of things psychologically. They want to give Nigerian people the impression that they have respect for human rights and that they respect my right to participate in the democratic process. They were expecting applause; it didn’t come. When that didn’t come, they got very rattled.
“I think this for them is a face-saving measure so that they don’t appear to look weak, and they’re confused because it was obvious that they were not expecting our reaction when they made that initial agreement.”
Speaking on how his administration would handle intelligence agencies and political criticism, Sowore said he would sack any intelligence chief who ordered the arrest of anyone for criticising him or calling him names.
“That is something that I would never do. I state it again here on your show: if I were to be President of Nigeria and somebody got arrested because they criticized me or called me a name, I would fire the intelligence head. That intelligence officer is not intelligent not to understand that such things are not an offense.”
He said his administration would protect citizens’ right to freely express their views, arguing that people should not be arrested or prosecuted for speaking critically about those in power.
“My duty will be to protect everybody’s right, including their right to free expression—to freely express themselves about anything affecting them.
“People must speak out; that’s why the Constitution guarantees that right as an inalienable right—to freely speak about the leaders of your country.”
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