The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2027 election, Omoyele Sowore, has said his administration will not recognise or maintain the Office of the First Lady if he becomes president of Nigeria.
Sowore stated this while speaking on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, on Thursday.
The AAC candidate said the Office of the First Lady was not provided for in the Nigerian Constitution, stressing that his election as president would not affect his marriage but would not translate into the creation of an official position for his wife.
According to him, his administration would operate strictly within the framework of the Constitution and would not maintain what he described as an unconstitutional office.
“You have to understand that it will be a constitutional democracy, and I’ve read all the laws of Nigeria, both old and new, including the current constitution, which by the way will change.
“There is no office of First Lady there, but nobody can abolish, you know, becoming president will not abolish my marriage, but I will not have an office of First Lady, definitely not,” he said.
Sowore was responding to a question on whether his wife would return to Nigeria to assume the role of First Lady if he won the 2027 presidential election.
He also rejected the suggestion that not having an official First Lady would prevent women from having a voice in his administration.
According to him, women would be represented and heard, but he questioned the need for maintaining an office he considers unconstitutional.
“Well, women will be heard, but I don’t believe that you need a First Lady who is holding an unconstitutional position, and just wasting money that is meant for progress and projects, on frivolities,” Sowore said.
The AAC candidate further criticised previous First Ladies, arguing that the office had not significantly improved the position of women in the country.
“We’ve had so many of these First Ladies, and they haven’t brought any first position of women in the country,” he said.
Sowore concluded that the non-establishment of the Office of the First Lady would be a deliberate policy of his administration if elected president.
“So I’m just telling you that as a matter of policy, there won’t be an office of First Lady under the Shogunate presidency,” he said.
