Basiru, Sowore Trade Barbs Over University Admission and Political Credentials

Friction between Ajibola Basiru, the All Progressives Congress National Secretary, and Omoyele Sowore, who represents the African Action Congress in the presidential race, has become increasingly acrimonious. Their dispute centres on competing narratives regarding Basiru's path to studying at the University of Lagos.

Following Basiru's appearance on Channels Television's Politics Today programme on Wednesday, tensions escalated when he dismissed Sowore as a comedian and challenged his political standing. Sowore's bid to launch his presidential campaign from Aso Rock gave Basiru further grounds to question whether he possessed genuine electoral ambitions.

Sowore had maintained that Basiru benefited from his assistance after leaving the University of Ilorin. Basiru forcefully rejected this claim, stating it amounted to outright falsehood.

He contended that his UNILAG place reflected scholastic merit alone, specifically citing a UTME result of 310. According to Basiru, no other individual played any role in securing his university admission; his own academic performance determined his entry.

On X and related social media channels, Sowore mounted a counterattack by invoking their shared record combating authoritarianism during Nigeria's military period. He argued that Basiru had since repudiated the democratic commitments they once jointly defended.

Sowore reasserted his own version of the admission circumstances, suggesting that holding political office had led Basiru to abandon the principles animating their earlier work as activists and advocates for democratic freedoms. The trajectory of Basiru's career, Sowore implied, demonstrated ideological betrayal born from pursuit of power.

At its core, this clash reveals deep divisions between two figures who previously occupied similar spheres within Nigeria's activism and political ecosystems. Basiru's characterisation of Sowore as a 'skit maker' and 'comedian' functioned as the primary catalyst for their public exchange, enabling Sowore to deploy their confrontation for denouncing government-aligned figures who once championed democracy but now distance themselves from those same values.