Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Omoyele Sowore, the freshly anointed presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) for the 2027 election, has unveiled a radical security blueprint that would see the traditional office of Minister of Defence abolished and replaced by an army of drones. Speaking on 6 January 2026 during an appearance on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, the human‑rights activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters declared, “If I were the President of Nigeria, I wouldn’t have a Minister of Defence. My Minister of Defence will be a drone.” The statement, which quickly went viral, is central to a wider campaign promise to drag Nigeria’s sluggish, heavily bureaucratic security apparatus into the age of unmanned warfare, while scrapping expensive military hardware such as fighter jets that he described as “outdated and ineffective”.
Sowore has long argued that modern conflicts are no longer won by heavy bureaucracy or ceremonial leadership but by speed, intelligence and precision — qualities he believes drones possess in abundance. “If I’m president of Nigeria, I’m not buying any jet anymore. I’m buying unmanned aerial vehicles. I want to invest in drones. They are pretty expensive, but they are more effective,” he told the programme. According to him, a small number of operators can control multiple drones, drastically reducing the manpower needed for surveillance and response. “You can just have five persons operate ten drones. Even the drones that they buy for two thousand dollars, I have two of them, and they get seized all the time. They can cover a four‑kilometre radius within twenty minutes,” he said.
Under his proposed model, a decentralised network of relatively cheap UAVs would monitor Nigeria’s forests, track bandits and kidnappers, and provide real‑time intelligence to ground forces without the long deployment times or maintenance nightmares associated with fighter jets. “If I have ten unmanned drones and operators, and I hear there is a kidnapper walking in the bush, I can use that drone to at least track them for a while, until the police can then conduct their cordon,” he explained. He further noted that many forests are not vast enough to defeat persistent aerial monitoring. “It can go four kilometres, and there are not too many forests that are longer than, let’s say, ten kilometres in terms of thickness,” he added.
Sowore drew a sharp contrast between his vision and the current military procurement system, which he described as a black hole of corruption, endless delays and ill‑maintained equipment. He pointed to the long training periods required for pilots and the notorious shortage of spare parts for expensive jets as proof that Nigeria was wasting billions on an obsolete strategy. “So if you’re still buying some fancy fighter jets that you have to train people for five years to use, you’re not likely to get replacement parts on time; you’re wasting your time,” he said.
The activist also referenced the evolving nature of modern warfare, citing the recent Israel‑Iran conflict as evidence that traditional air forces are increasingly irrelevant. “It has shown to you that the Air Force is on its way to retirement. You can stay in your country, you can take over my airspace, and I don’t have to have a single jet. I can have your F‑35, and if I have very capable drones, I’ll get to you,” he argued.
Sowore’s drone‑centric defence proposal is not a spontaneous one‑off comment. It has become a recurring theme of his 2027 presidential campaign, which he formally declared earlier in March 2026, promising to challenge President Bola Tinubu’s re‑election bid. In May 2026, the AAC adopted him as its consensus presidential candidate, and he stepped down as the party’s National Chairman to focus fully on the race. During the convention, he pledged to deploy technology‑driven strategies to combat insecurity, condemning the persistent wave of kidnappings and violent crimes across the country.
Beyond security, Sowore has repeatedly insisted that fixing Nigeria’s electricity crisis would be his first priority. “It would be a general awareness of dignity. For the first time, you would feel like you’re Nigerian. You’d feel like you’ve come to a country that has respect for you,” he told Channels Television. He believes that stable power is the foundation for economic transformation and would directly improve security by enabling better surveillance, lighting and communication in vulnerable communities.
The AAC candidate’s remarks have drawn a mixed response. Some security experts acknowledge the potential of drones for surveillance and intelligence gathering, but question whether a purely drone‑based defence system can replace the need for a coordinated military chain of command, especially in large‑scale offensives. Others argue that while Sowore’s critique of bureaucratic inertia and wasteful procurement is valid, his proposal to eliminate the office of Defence Minister may be more symbolic than operational. Still, for a substantial section of the electorate weary of the same revolving‑door security policies, his emphasis on low‑cost, high‑impact technology has struck a chord.
Sowore’s campaign is built on a platform of radical change across governance, the economy and security. He has vowed to stop the borrowing culture, empower women and persons with disabilities through legitimate economic policies rather than palliatives, and tackle poverty head‑on. His drone‑led defence plan is, therefore, part of a larger narrative of using technology, transparency and accountability to rebuild Nigeria.
As the 2027 election cycle heats up, Sowore’s slogan that his “Minister of Defence would be a drone” will continue to serve as a litmus test of his credibility as a candidate willing to break with convention. Whether voters embrace a defence strategy built on $2,000 UAVs or stick with traditional military structures will be one of the defining debates of the coming campaign season. What is certain is that Sowore has succeeded in forcing a conversation about speed, corruption and modernisation in a sector that has for too long been considered untouchable.
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