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African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore unveiled part of his 2027 manifesto Friday, proposing that artificial intelligence effectively serve as Nigeria’s “Minister of Finance” and drone technology take on the role of “Minister of Defence” under his administration.
Sowore laid out the proposals in separate posts on his verified X account, framing emerging technology as a tool for tackling corruption, improving transparency, and modernizing governance if elected. “Sowore2027 will appoint Artificial Intelligence as ‘Minister of Finance’ and a ‘Drone’ as Minister of Defence,” he wrote, adding that AI would “eliminate human manipulation, waste, and corruption in public finance by making data-driven, transparent decisions,” while drones would bring “modern surveillance, rapid response, precision, and accountability” to national security. “The future of governance is technology, not patronage,” Sowore wrote.
In a follow-up post expanding on the finance proposal, Sowore argued that blockchain technology paired with AI represents the most effective combination available against public sector corruption. He described blockchain’s role as creating a permanent, tamper-resistant public ledger recording every government transaction, contract, budget allocation, and expenditure, time-stamped and open to public scrutiny. AI, he said, would continuously audit government operations, flagging suspicious transactions, conflicts of interest, and procurement irregularities before public funds could disappear.
“Blockchain Technology and Artificial Intelligence are the most powerful weapons against public sector corruption,” he wrote, adding that deploying both systems together would make corruption “technologically difficult, easily detectable, and swiftly punishable.”
Sowore said an AI-driven finance ministry would eliminate the need for what he characterized as bloated bureaucracy, including large official convoys, handwritten receipts, alterable paper ledgers, and costly seminars that he said slow decision-making and enable systemic corruption. “The government will become leaner, faster, transparent, and accountable,” he wrote, adding that his goal was to improve Nigerians’ quality of life through technology-driven governance rather than expand bureaucratic structures.
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Friday’s proposals extend a consistent theme in Sowore’s public messaging ahead of the 2027 general election, in which he has repeatedly framed digital transparency, institutional reform, and technology-driven governance as central pillars of his campaign under the #Sowore2027 banner.
Sowore previously contested the presidency in 2019 as the candidate of the African Action Congress, the same platform under which he is running in 2027, finishing outside the top two candidates in a race won by incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari. He has built a public profile over more than a decade as a journalist and activist, founding the online outlet Sahara Reporters before entering electoral politics, and has been arrested multiple times in connection with protests and activism critical of successive Nigerian administrations.
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The manifesto proposals, as described in Friday’s posts, stop short of detailing how an AI system would be legally vested with ministerial authority under Nigeria’s constitutional framework, which designates cabinet ministers as human appointees subject to presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, as amended, does not currently contemplate non-human entities holding ministerial office, meaning Sowore’s framing of AI and drones as literal ministerial appointees functions, at least as presented, as a branding device for a broader technology-integration policy rather than a literal legal proposal, though Sowore’s posts did not clarify which government office or human oversight body would formally administer the AI and drone systems in practice.
Sowore’s posts also did not specify the estimated cost of developing or procuring the blockchain infrastructure, AI monitoring systems, or drone technology described, nor did they address how the proposals would be funded, implemented, or phased in during a prospective administration. No further sections of the broader 2027 manifesto were disclosed alongside Friday’s posts.
