Sowore Challenges SERAP Over Fresh Call for Presidential Candidates to Declare Assets

Sowore reacts to SERAP asset declaration

African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has challenged the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) over its latest call for all presidential candidates in the 2027 election to publicly declare their assets and reject vote-buying.

SERAP had urged all 19 presidential candidates recently announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish details of their assets and liabilities, including those of their spouses and, where applicable, unmarried children under 18.

The organisation also called on the candidates to publicly reject vote-buying and electoral bribery before and during the election.

In its open letter dated August 8, 2026, SERAP argued that Nigerians should be able to assess presidential candidates based on their policies, competence, integrity, character and vision rather than their financial capacity.

The organisation said voluntary asset disclosure would allow voters to identify potential conflicts of interest, improve confidence in the electoral process and provide a basis for monitoring changes in candidates’ wealth if they eventually assume public office.

SERAP also urged the candidates to sign public integrity pledges, instruct their campaign organisations and supporters not to offer material inducements for votes, and report credible allegations of vote-buying to the relevant authorities.

However, Sowore has questioned why SERAP is making the demand to all candidates again without addressing what he described as the organisation’s silence when some candidates previously failed to disclose their assets.

Reacting to the SERAP statement, Sowore said his assets had already been declared when the organisation made a similar call in 2023.

“My Assets were declared when you made the call in 2023. Others refused to declare their assets, yet you kept completely mute about them,” Sowore said.

He then challenged the organisation to take legal action against candidates who refused to comply with the demand.

“Why not sue them to force them to declare their asset before election?” he asked.

Sowore’s response shifts the focus from the general principle of asset declaration to the consistency with which the demand is being applied to political candidates.

The AAC candidate has previously positioned transparency and accountability as major issues in his political campaigns, particularly in his criticism of Nigeria’s political establishment.

His latest reaction suggests that while he supports the principle of public scrutiny of political candidates, he wants organisations advocating for transparency to apply the same standard consistently across the political spectrum.

SERAP, in its latest statement, listed President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Sandy Onor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sowore of the AAC and other presidential candidates among those it wants to see publish their assets before the 2027 election.

The organisation maintained that presidential candidates seeking control over public finances, natural resources, appointments and security institutions should be prepared to subject their personal financial affairs to reasonable public scrutiny.

SERAP also raised concerns about vote-buying, particularly in the context of Nigeria’s economic hardship, arguing that poverty could make vulnerable voters more susceptible to financial inducements during elections.

According to the organisation, Nigerians should not be forced to choose between candidates based on who has the financial capacity to spend the most during an election.

Sowore’s response, however, places emphasis on what he sees as the need for enforcement rather than simply issuing another public appeal.

His question to SERAP is whether candidates who previously refused to disclose their assets should be taken to court and compelled to do so before asking Nigerians for their votes.

The exchange comes as political activities gradually intensify ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with candidates and political parties beginning to strengthen their national structures and communicate their campaign messages to voters.

For Sowore, the issue also provides another opportunity to highlight his longstanding argument that political leaders should be subjected to greater scrutiny and accountability.

The AAC presidential candidate is expected to continue using his campaign to demand greater transparency from political office holders while presenting his own political programme to Nigerians ahead of the election.

The debate over asset declaration is likely to remain part of the wider conversation surrounding the 2027 election, particularly as voters increasingly demand information about the backgrounds, financial interests and records of those seeking public office.

For now, Sowore wants SERAP to go beyond calling on candidates to publish their assets and explain why those who previously failed to comply with similar demands were not pursued through legal means.

His message was clear: if asset declaration is important enough to demand from every presidential candidate, then organisations advocating for transparency should also be prepared to enforce the standard equally.