The group, however, noted that it is preposterous for President Tinubu who once found himself in same situation under the coercive military government of General Sani Abacha and fled the country and announced lack of faith in Nigeria could be supervising same atrocity under his government.
The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) Vanguard has called on the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government to stop the trumped-up treason trial of the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, without further delay.
The Vanguard for social transformation in Nigeria made the charge in an open letter to President Tinubu, titled: "Stop The Show Treason Trial Of Omoyele Sowore Now," signed by Comrade Abdulmajid Y. Daudu, of the Abuja/Kano Bureau.
Dated November 21, 2023 the group said "On December 5, 2023, Comrade Omoyele Sowore, leader and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), who participated in the February 25, 2023 presidential election in Nigeria, will appear in court once again to face treason charges levelled against him by the Buhari administration.
"It will be recalled that the Buhari regime took exception to any popular call for positive social change in the country. Like his predecessors in government, President Buhari ran a regime that served the interest of the monied classes, leaving the down trodden to wallow in want and misery.
"In fact, poverty increased exponentially under the administration. This raised social and political tensions in the country, and led social critics and concerned citizens to raise their voices against wanton corruption, insecurity, and pervasive economic hardships.
"Omoyele Sowore was one of those who raised his voice against this miserable situation in the country at the time. His peaceful 'revolution now' movement galvanised the support of most of the urban underclass, especially in populous cities such as Lagos, Kano and Abuja. This made the Buhari regime to see him as a threat.
"Then came the clampdown. Regime men moved in on Sowore, arrested, detained, and charged him to court for the ultimate criminal offence against the state: treason. This show trial is still ongoing even after the life of the regime that concocted it had lapsed."
The group, however, noted that it is preposterous for President Tinubu who once found himself in same situation under the coercive military government of General Sani Abacha and fled the country and announced lack of faith in Nigeria could be supervising same atrocity under his government.
"The last time Sowore appeared in court, he asked the judge: 'How can I overthrow a government with an 18-year-old boy as my accomplice?' The boy himself is nowhere to be found. And those levelling the charges against the AAC leader have not produced any credible evidence in court or elsewhere to support their convoluted treason claim against the accused person.
"But this is the Nigeria that President Tinubu has helped to create, then inherited, and is now promising to fix. How can this fixing take place when trumped-up charges are levelled against political opponents and allowed to fester for years, wasting precious court time, tax payers money, and worse, abusing the human rights of the victim?
"President Tinubu once found himself in this same legal quagmire under the coercive military government of General Sani Abacha. What did he do? He fled the country and announced his lack of faith in its existence. Today, he is presiding over the same type of machinery of injustice that he vowed to correct when he took over the reins of power as president. How ironic?
"Nigerians at home and abroad are watching. Will Tinubu continue with Buhari's show trial against Omoyele Sowore? Or will he respect human rights and set Sowore free once and for all to be able to reunite with his wife and children now living abroad?
"The government of Nigeria must come to terms with the fact that majority of the citizens are looking forward to some form of revolution that will change their wretched living conditions for the better. To arrest anyone calling for "Revolution Now" is to arrest the mass of the working class. No jail is big enough to cage 134 million poor Nigerians.
"It is time for those in power to have a rethink about their approach to treating citizen champions such as Sowore, who reflect rather than create the grievances of the masses. The true fabricators of popular anger against government are those in government abusing public trust. End this abuse and you will not hear anything about 'Revolution now'. Mr president, set comrade Omoyele Sowore free now.
"His continued trial is gross injustice to the man, his children, his family, and the millions of Nigerians that he rightly represents as the legitimate leader of the African Action Congress, Nigeria," the letter partly read.