Sowore and Channels presenter Seun Okinbaloye clash on live TV over Ekiti attack question

Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, had a heated exchange with Channels Television presenter Seun Okinbaloye on Friday during the Politics Today programme.

The flashpoint was a question about the attack on Sowore in Ado-Ekiti earlier that day. Okinbaloye asked whether Sowore had provoked the thugs who set upon him.

Sowore rejected the question outright, saying it amounted to blaming the victim. He told the presenter not to put such a question to him, stressing that he had been attacked and beaten.

Okinbaloye tried to steady the interview, saying he was only trying to establish the full picture of what happened. Sowore was not satisfied, calling the question insensitive and questioning whether it qualified as journalism.

What Sowore says happened

According to Sowore, the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) took the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage that captured the Ado-Ekiti attack, and he accused them of doing so to cover it up. The security agencies have not responded to that allegation in the reports available.

The on-air confrontation ran for roughly two minutes. Clips of it circulated widely on X and Facebook, drawing thousands of comments.

Reaction has split along familiar lines. Some Nigerians backed Sowore for pushing back at a question they saw as unfair. Others said the presenter was simply doing his job by testing the account he was given.

The Ekiti incident and the seizure claim are central to Sowore's complaint. He is asking why footage of an attack on a presidential candidate would be taken out of public reach.

What happens next

There is no word yet on whether the police or the DSS will address the CCTV allegation. For now, the argument over the interview question is getting more attention than the attack itself.