Sahara Reporters Publisher Omoyele Sowore says he’s Running for President in 2019

Sahara Reporters’ founder and publisher, Omoyele Sowore

Publisher of news website Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, has revealed that he intends to run for president in 2019.

In an interview on the website, Sowore explains how he intends to defeat incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari.

Speaking on why he believes Buhari should not be reelected, Sowore said:

Just a little over a week ago – over 100 young girls were taken by Boko Haram in Dapchi. Buhari’s appeal was supposed to be a tough stance against corruption and an ability to address the security crises posed by Boko Haram. No single major victory has been notched in the anti-corruption fight. Boko Haram is still alive and kicking. And the president’s inaction and lack of leadership are causing the herdsmen-farmers conflicts to take on an even more dangerous dimension. The Nigerian state is in shambles.

Asked what his plans for Nigeria are, Sowore listed three issues that included fighting corruption and ridding the civil service of favouritism and nepotism. He said:

Nigeria struggles because past presidents have had three major issues.

Firstly, there is an abject absence of a clear vision as to where the country should be headed. Where should Nigeria be in the next five, 10 or even 50 years? Where are the national plans that map out the country’s vision and the paths to their actualization aside from the propaganda we see on NTA? Today, we are impressed by China’s sustained growth, but since 1953 China has produced a series of 5-year plans that has guided their growth. Now they are on their 13th five-year plan (2016-2020). With that China became the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth using its populace as its best resource. China solved its housing crisis and even now boast of unoccupied apartments in “ghost cities” built in the last 10 years. China built one of the fastest rail services with an amount of money equivalent to the sums stolen during the oil imports scam. Same goes for the UAE. Dubai was built into the architectural marvel that is now a magnet to Nigeria’s thieving elites. I will be instituting a series of four-year plans to overlap with Nigeria’s political tenure system that will chart our path to growth and progress.

Secondly, even where a clear vision might exist, nepotism, tribalism, and favoritism has robbed us of the service of our best people. I am a completely detribalized Nigerian. My antecedents are that of an activist that has worked to build alliances and networks across this nation over the last 30 years.

I understand first hand the value of having competent and capable people in the right positions. I’ve created a world-class media company in the last 12 years and taught in a private college for eight years helping to mold some of America’s greatest minds.

Thirdly, corruption has crippled us as a nation. Where past presidents have been slow in tackling this issue and sometimes even complicit through their actions or inactions in promoting corruption, I will be decisive in dealing with this cancer that has ravaged the Nigerian nation.

Sowore said he’s in talks with some political parties, as he plans to launch on the platform of a coalition of several parties.

Read the full interview on Sahara Reporters.