Omoyele Sowore popularly known as “Yele” is a pro-democracy and human rights activist who was born on February 16, 1971 in Ondo state. He is best known for founding the New York City based online portal Sahara Reporters.
Sowore established the African Action Congress party in August 2018 and stood as its presidential candidate in the 2019 general elections in Nigeria.
He is a graduate of the University of Lagos where he studied Geography and Plannings. Sowore also holds a master's degree in public administration from Colombia University and teaches Modern African History at the City University of New York and Post Colonial African History at the School of Art, New York.
There has been various criticisms and controversies surrounding Sowore. During the 2014 election, Sowore was accused of collecting bribe from President Buhari to ridicule the former President Goodluck Jonathan. His media company Sahara Reporter has been accused of extorting from Government officials for his personal greed.
Sowore has had beef with almost all the politicians in Nigeria, resulting to his life being threatened or in other cases facing legal charges. He has a long list of political enemies including, Senator Dino Melaye, Bukola Saraki, and Ted Ikuru just to mention a few. On 3rd Of August 2019 he was arrested by the Nigerian State Security Service(SSS) for alleged treason after calling for a protest tagged “RevolutionNow.”