Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 general election, has said he declined an invitation to attend the National Opposition Summit held in Ibadan, Oyo State, describing the gathering as an attempt by established politicians to rebrand themselves without accountability.

Opposition leaders, including figures from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), had converged in Ibadan on Saturday, where they agreed to work towards presenting a single presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.

Reacting in a post on his X handle on Sunday, Sowore said he refused to participate because he does not believe the same political actors responsible for Nigeria’s challenges can suddenly reposition themselves as agents of change.

“I declined the Ibadan ‘Opposition Summit’. Nigerians deserve a genuine alternative, not recycled failure,” he wrote.

He argued that many of those involved in the summit had, in his view, presided over years of stagnation and corruption, and should not be trusted with renewed political authority.

“There is no need to pretend that the same men (and a few women) who held Nigeria to ransom for years, presiding over stagnation, corruption, and systemic decay, can suddenly reinvent themselves as champions of progress,” he said.

Sowore further stated that the AAC would not associate with what he described as a “political charade” aimed at recycling old political figures under the guise of opposition unity.

He added that his party remains committed to building a “people-driven alternative” anchored on accountability and systemic change, insisting that Nigeria’s political problems require a complete break from existing structures rather than a reshuffling of familiar actors.