In Nigeria’s increasingly unpredictable political landscape, some policy positions that once sounded radical are gradually finding their way into mainstream political debate. Two of the most controversial positions associated with Omoyele Sowore during the 2023 presidential campaign were his advocacy for the legalisation of cannabis and his opposition to the immediate removal of petrol subsidy.
Those positions were controversial, unconventional and, in some respects, politically risky. But they also helped distinguish Sowore from the more established presidential candidates of the time.
1. Sowore’s controversial cannabis proposal
One of Sowore’s most striking policy positions was his advocacy for the legalisation of cannabis cultivation and commercialisation in Nigeria.
During the 2023 campaign, Sowore argued that cannabis should be treated not merely as an illicit substance but also as an agricultural and economic resource. He pointed to its potential applications in medicine, textiles and other industries, while arguing that Nigeria could generate foreign exchange from legal cultivation and export.
In January 2023, he reiterated the position during an interview with Agidigbo FM in Ibadan, saying he would legalise cannabis if elected president. His position generated immediate controversy, with former Senator Shehu Sani publicly warning him against legalising marijuana.
Importantly, however, fact-checkers subsequently established that claims suggesting Sowore wanted to legalise weed smoking were misleading. His documented position centred largely on legalising cultivation and exploiting cannabis for economic and industrial purposes, rather than simply encouraging recreational consumption.
Sowore also stated during an NDLEA-hosted discussion that he had never smoked cannabis and argued that the plant had uses beyond consumption.
Whether one agrees with the proposal or not, it was undeniably outside the traditional Nigerian political comfort zone.
2. Petrol subsidy: Sowore refused to follow the crowd
The second issue was petrol subsidy.
Sowore consistently argued against the immediate removal of the subsidy and maintained that Nigerians should not be forced to bear the full burden of a dysfunctional petroleum system while the country remained incapable of refining enough of its own crude.
In October 2022, he declared that he would not remove the fuel subsidy if elected, arguing that what should instead be removed was the subsidy benefiting corrupt interests and those involved in fraudulent fuel-importation arrangements.
He repeated the position in January 2023, although his argument was more nuanced: he criticised the subsidy system as fraudulent while simultaneously insisting that government should protect Nigerians and go after those benefiting from the alleged corruption surrounding it.
This is where the historical record requires some caution. It is inaccurate to say that every other 2023 presidential candidate promised to remove subsidy. A 2023 fact-check found that claim to be false. Atiku Abubakar, for example, said in 2023 that he favoured a phased removal of subsidy, alongside palliatives to cushion the impact.
Nevertheless, Sowore’s position was distinctive because he was explicitly campaigning against an abrupt removal and connecting the issue to domestic refining, corruption and accountability.
And now, Atiku enters the subsidy debate
Fast-forward to August 2026, and the political conversation has taken an interesting turn.
Reports published following the opening of the 2027 election campaign say Atiku Abubakar, now the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, has promised to restore petrol subsidy if elected president. He has also called for accountability over the money saved following subsidy removal.
That creates an intriguing political irony.
A policy position that once made Sowore look radically different from the political establishment is now being embraced, in a different form, by one of Nigeria’s most experienced political figures.
The question for Nigerians is therefore no longer simply “Should subsidy exist?”
It is whether subsidy can be redesigned without returning Nigeria to the corruption, opacity and inefficiency that historically surrounded it—and whether restoring it would genuinely benefit ordinary Nigerians rather than simply create another avenue for powerful interests.
For Sowore, however, the political record remains significant: he was talking about these unconventional alternatives long before some of them became politically fashionable.
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