Sowore explains how he supported Obi and helped him emerge as LP presidential candidate

he supported Peter Obi in his bid to become the Labour Party's nominee for president.

Speaking on Monday at the memorial lecture honouring the late human rights lawyer and activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, in Lagos, Sowore claimed that the Labour Party encountered difficulties when deciding whether to offer Obi as a candidate because there were calls for his withdrawal.

Sowore claimed that he and activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, rose to the situation by defending the LP in court.

“When the Labour Party ran into a problem. There was a member of the LP who insisted that the LP could not present the candidacy of Peter Obi. They had a legal problem. We went and obtain judgment in court; from the Court of Appeal, and handed it over to Falana to use it to defend the Labour Party, and by extension, Peter Obi’s candidacy. Yes! I’m just telling you that we’re in the business of saving people,” Sowore stated.

The pro-democracy activist further asserted that he saved Obi from impeachment while he served as the governor of Anambra State.

He said there were moves to “flush out Obi in Anambra State twice, Sahara Reporters saved the day. Falana on a daily basis will call me, saying: ‘I don’t know Peter Obi, but we should not allow this injustice to pass, nobody should be impeached,” saying that as of that time, “Obasanjo was impeaching everybody impeachable at that time in Nigeria. That was how Obi was able to complete two tenures. So when we speak, we know what we’re saying.”

“We are saying that we have been standing with the Nigerian people but we don’t have any sense of entitlement,” Sowore added.

According to The PUNCH, Sowore, Falana, and a large group of people descended upon Lagos on Monday for the 13th anniversary of Fawehinmi's death.

Three years after being detained by the Department of State Service in 2019, Sowore was making his way back to the state.

Up until his passing, Chief Fawehinmi was a politician, publisher, social commentator, and novelist from Nigeria. He is cherished for his activism and pro bono legal representation of the average person.

Among other international honours, Fwehinmi received the Senior Advocate of the Masses award from Obafemi Awolowo University in 1988 before becoming a SAN in September 2001.

Fawehinmi was repeatedly detained and imprisoned for his activism by various military-run governments.

Debo Adeniran, the Chairman of the Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, Gbenga Komolafe, the General Secretary of the Federation of Informal Workers Organization of Nigeria, and others attended the program on Monday.

Source