{"id":64624,"date":"2019-02-09T20:54:32","date_gmt":"2019-02-09T19:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=64624"},"modified":"2019-02-09T20:54:32","modified_gmt":"2019-02-09T19:54:32","slug":"sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/","title":{"rendered":"Sowore Responds To Soyinka, Says “We Don’t Believe In Godfathers, Godmothers Endorsement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Presidential Candidate of the African Action Congress, Mr. Omoyele Sowore,
\nhas responded to Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s endorsement of Kinglsey
\nMoghalu for President. And his answer is simple: “We do not believe in the
\npolitics of godfathers, godmothers or endorsements.”<\/p>\n

In a statement released very early on Friday, Soyinka had endorsed
\nMoghaly, candidate of Young Progressive Party (YPP), saying the decision
\nwas reached after “months of studying the careers, experiences and track
\nrecords of most of the presidential aspirants, and most intensely those
\nactually short-listed by the opposition parties themselves”.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike millions of Nigerians, we watched the debates. I physically
\ninteracted with some of the acknowledged top contenders, in some cases
\nseveral times. We participated in HANDSHAKE ACROSS NIGERIA, where some
\ncandidates presented their briefs,\u201d the Professor had said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong others, I delivered a keynote address. We watched television
\ninterviews. We have exchanged notes with highly respected international
\nCivil Servants. The drive towards Consensus among these dedicated groups
\nsometimes took the form of test questionnaires to the aspirants, including
\nitems such as: \u2018Who among the contestants would you choose, if you did not
\nemerge as the ultimate preference?’<\/p>\n

“Let me reiterate: there is over-abundant but stifled leadership material,
\nand there can be no excuse, now that that potential of high quality is
\nbeing manifested, for constricting the political space in a population
\nthat is nudging two hundred million. And that statement is of course
\nspecially addressed to those who took part in this exercise, those who
\ndeliberately opted out of it, some of whom were assessed anyway. Such
\npotential compelled us to exercise utmost rigour in what proved to be a
\nmost daunting exercise. The final determination however is \u2014 the
\nflag-bearer of the Young Progressive Party \u2014 KINGSLEY MOGHALU.”<\/p>\n

However, responding also on Friday through Dr. Malcolm Fabiyi,
\nDirector-General of his presidential campaign, Sowore said the only
\nopinions that matter… the only voices of influence are not those of
\nprivilege, power, status, or fame”.<\/p>\n

“The only endorsement that matters to us is the one the Nigerian people
\nhave already given us. We are the voice of the Nigerian people, and the
\nonly organic platform that will represent the interest of the Nigerian
\nmasses,” he said.<\/p>\n

THE FULL STATEMENT<\/p>\n

For the past year, Omoyele Sowore, leader of the Take it Back Movement and
\npresidential candidate of the AAC has travelled across the 6 geopolitical
\nzones, travelled to over 200 cities and towns within Nigeria, and engaged
\nextensively with Nigerians at home and abroad to share his vision for
\nbirthing a vibrant and prosperous nation. Those consultations and
\nengagements have created the broadest coalition of Nigerians that our
\nnation has ever seen.<\/p>\n

On our platform, those previously considered inconsequential – the
\nvoiceless, the teeming poor and the forgotten youth – have found a voice
\nand an outlet for the realisation of a nation that works for all of her
\npeople.<\/p>\n

We have said from the beginning that we do not believe in the politics of
\ngodfathers, godmothers or endorsements. Indeed, we seek to create a nation
\nwhere the only opinions that matters, and where the only voices of
\ninfluence are not those of privilege, power, status, or fame. The only
\nendorsement that matters to us is the one the Nigerian people have already
\ngiven us. We are the voice of the Nigerian people, and the only organic
\nplatform that will represent the interest of the Nigerian masses.<\/p>\n

For the avoidance of doubt, there is no presidential candidate that can
\nboast of the antecedents, the history of principled engagement, and the
\nsacrificial participation in the struggle to move Nigeria forward that
\nOmoyele Sowore has displayed over the last 30 years.<\/p>\n

From the fight to reverse the annulment of the June 12th 1993 elections,
\nto the restoration of democracy in 1999, to the truncation of Obasanjo\u2019s
\n3rd term bid, to the exposure of the Yar\u2019Adua cabal\u2019s bid to deny a
\nconstitutional transfer of power to a minority president, to the
\ncourageous real-time release of the 2015 poll results that helped to
\nsafeguard and ensure free and fair elections, Sowore has been at the
\nforefront of pivotal political events of in country.<\/p>\n

No other candidate has had this level of engagement. No other candidate
\ncan speak of a thirty-year consistency in their service to the nation. No
\nother candidate has worked for the Nigerian people as thoroughly and
\ncomprehensively as Sowore has done. No other candidate speaks to the
\naspirations of the Nigerian people with the authenticity that Sowore does.
\nThat authenticity is what has powered our party to becoming one of the
\nthree largest parties in the nation.<\/p>\n

We want to assure Nigerians that on February 16th, the African Action
\nCongress will be on the ballot. On that day, Sowore and the AAC will get
\nthe only endorsement that matters when the Nigerian people vote to elect
\nhim as the next president of Nigeria. On February 16th 2019, the Nigwrian
\npeople will speak with one voice, and that onerous voice of reason will
\ntrounce the dictates of godfatherism.<\/p>\n

Nigeria, our dear Nigeria, is on the March to greatness!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Presidential Candidate of the African Action Congress, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, has responded to Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s endorsement of Kinglsey Moghalu for President. And his answer is simple: “We do…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSowore Responds To Soyinka, Says "We Don't Believe In Godfathers, Godmothers Endorsement - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sowore Responds To Soyinka, Says "We Don't Believe In Godfathers, Godmothers Endorsement - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Presidential Candidate of the African Action Congress, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, has responded to Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s endorsement of Kinglsey Moghalu for President. And his answer is simple: “We do…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-09T19:54:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sowore-omoyele.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"860\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"571\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"Sowore Responds To Soyinka, Says “We Don’t Believe In Godfathers, Godmothers Endorsement\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-09T19:54:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/\"},\"wordCount\":853,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sowore-omoyele.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/\",\"name\":\"Sowore Responds To Soyinka, Says \\\"We Don't Believe In Godfathers, Godmothers Endorsement - Pointblank News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sowore-omoyele.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-09T19:54:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sowore-omoyele.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sowore-omoyele.jpg\",\"width\":860,\"height\":571},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sowore Responds To Soyinka, Says “We Don’t Believe In Godfathers, Godmothers Endorsement\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\",\"name\":\"Pointblank News\",\"description\":\"Just the news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\",\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Our Reporter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sowore Responds To Soyinka, Says \"We Don't Believe In Godfathers, Godmothers Endorsement - Pointblank News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sowore Responds To Soyinka, Says \"We Don't Believe In Godfathers, Godmothers Endorsement - Pointblank News","og_description":"Presidential Candidate of the African Action Congress, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, has responded to Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s endorsement of Kinglsey Moghalu for President. And his answer is simple: “We do…","og_url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/","og_site_name":"Pointblank News","article_published_time":"2019-02-09T19:54:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":860,"height":571,"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sowore-omoyele.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Our Reporter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Our Reporter","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/"},"author":{"name":"Our Reporter","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"headline":"Sowore Responds To Soyinka, Says “We Don’t Believe In Godfathers, Godmothers Endorsement","datePublished":"2019-02-09T19:54:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/"},"wordCount":853,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sowore-omoyele.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/","name":"Sowore Responds To Soyinka, Says \"We Don't Believe In Godfathers, Godmothers Endorsement - Pointblank News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sowore-omoyele.jpg","datePublished":"2019-02-09T19:54:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sowore-omoyele.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sowore-omoyele.jpg","width":860,"height":571},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/sowore-responds-to-soyinka-says-we-dont-believe-in-godfathers-godmothers-endorsement\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sowore Responds To Soyinka, Says “We Don’t Believe In Godfathers, Godmothers Endorsement"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/","name":"Pointblank News","description":"Just the news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c","name":"Our Reporter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Our Reporter"},"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}