Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist and publisher, has emerged as the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC).

On Thursday, the AAC held its presidential primary elections in Abuja. Here, delegates employed voice voting in line with electoral laws and unanimously affirmed Mr Sowore as the party’s presidential candidate. 

Mr Sowore declared his interest in the presidency in March. 

“The time for total freedom is now,” Mr Sowore said in his declaration.

Today’s victory confirms Mr Sowore’s second participation in Nigerian presidential elections. He was the party’s candidate in 2019. 

Mr Sowore garnered 33,953 votes at the polls, over opponents like Fela Durotoye of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) and Kingsley Moghalu of the Young Democratic Party (YPP).

President Muhammadu Buhari won the election, trailed closely by Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party. 

Mr Sowore ran his campaign on social and economic justice for Nigerians, the same critical issues he has used his Sahara Reporters online publication to champion for nearly two decades.

In 2019, months after participating in the presidential election, Mr Sowore was arrested by Nigeria’s brutal regime brigade SSS for campaigning for a peaceful revolution. He was held without trial for months. A federal judge later granted him a bail that confined him to Abuja. He has continued to challenge the charges in court.