Sowore prosecution is a dangerous gamble and Tinubu should know better

Aloy Ejimakor, Nnamdi Kanu's lawyer, has called out the prosecution of Omoyele Sowore as a dangerous gamble, and I completely agree with him. In a post on his X handle today, he reminded us that history does not forget — the political trial of Obafemi Awolowo in the 1960s helped spark a crisis that led to a military coup and a civil war. Now we are seeing the same heavy-handed tactics against an active presidential candidate over something as trivial as a social media post.

The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, made a surprise court appearance on July 27, and Ejimakor says that was a missed opportunity to apply the brakes. Instead of escalating this fight, the AGF should have entered a nolle prosequi and discontinued the case. Subjecting a presidential candidate to trial so close to the 2027 general election creates terrible democratic optics. It projects weakness and fear of opposition, not democratic confidence.

Let us be honest here — if the government is so afraid of one man's social media posts that it has to drag him to court, what does that say about their confidence in winning a free and fair election? This is not about Sowore alone. It is about the precedent we are setting. Are we going to criminalise political opposition in this country every time an election approaches? Be honest — do you think this prosecution is about justice or about silencing dissent?