“I don’t like when people say on national TV, especially within the mainstream, that there is no alternative to Buhari in Nigeria, when you have people like us, who have capacity, character, integrity, stamina, pedigree and energy. We can run marathons while he’s walking 800 metres," Sowore stated.
Omoyele Sowore, Presidential Aspirant and Publisher of SaharaReporters, has urged Nigerians to encourage politicians to participate in presidential debates before election.
Speaking on the programme, Politics Today on Wednesday, aired on Channels Television, Sowore restated the need for Nigerians to embrace fresh alternatives, and “say goodbye to poverty, incompetence and the lacklustre kind of leadership that we have had in Nigeria for the last 16 years, plus three years of APC.”
According to him, it is not doing justice to the Nigerian polity to say that “there is no alternative to Buhari in Nigeria”.
His words: “I don’t like when people say on national TV, especially within the mainstream, that there is no alternative to Buhari in Nigeria, when you have people like us who have capacity, character, integrity, stamina, pedigree and energy. We can run marathons while he’s walking 800 metres.
“There are young people in Nigeria, who are presenting themselves with programmes, ideas that are fresh and innovative. I don’t know what is wrong with us; we’re the ones making the point that we don’t want to get out of the bondage that we are in. We are telling you that the alternative is here. We are the alternative. We just set up a party, African Action Congress, and it came out of six months of serious politicking within Nigeria; reaching out to the grassroots, holding meetings in 28 states across Nigeria.
“Young people are here to take Nigeria to the next level. We want to say goodbye to poverty, incompetence and the lacklustre kind of leadership that we have had in Nigeria for the last 16 years, plus three years of APC. We should be talking about fresh ideas that we’re bringing on the table to grow electricity, infrastructure, power, and stop corruption from crippling, not the type of anti-corruption war that the APC is fighting.”
On the need for a presidential debate, he said: “Let’s have that conversation. And if you want to be more serious, maybe we should start bringing these presidential candidates for debate. Buhari should be brought out. Nigerians should force them out of hiding. Let them come and debate the future of Nigeria.
“Young people have come out and presented alternatives, and these alternatives are going to kick out the old [people] in 2019. We’re here to take the country to the next level and that is why I’m contesting for president.”