We reported yesterday that the founder of Sahara Reporters had opened a GoFundMe account to raise $2million for his 2019 Nigeria presidential campaign.
In an interesting twist, GoFundMe has taken down the page and suspended the account. This was made known by Omoyele Sowore himself in a Facebook post and a tweet yesterday.
Here is the suspension email from GoFundMe to Omoyele Sowore:
And the tweet:
FLASH: GoFundMe Just Alerted Us To The Suspension Of Our Fundraising Efforts On Their Platform! Apparently, our… https://t.co/EEF1Ub8IIg
— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) March 14, 2018
However looking at the terms and conditions of opening a GoFundMe, it assumes that GoFundMe can be used for practically any campaign provided all information is provided. So it is not immediately clear why GoFundMe would suspend Sowore’s account.
Crowdfunding is one of the easiest ways to raise money for elections as has been done in some communities aboard.
In his interview with Premium Times yesterday, Sowore said “he could not immediately say why the crowdfunding platform suspended his account, but said he would not be discouraged.”
“I woke up this morning and got an e-mail saying saying they’ve suspended the campaign,” Mr. Sowore said.
“Previously, he had been asked to provide further details about the purpose of the fundraiser by GoFundMe, which he did without hesitation.”
“He said the request was most likely due to the popularity that his campaign had garnered from those supporting his presidential ambition online.”
“But the campaign also elicited resentment amongst his antagonists, especially for its apparent success within the early hours of registration.”
GoFundMe has not given any explanation as to the suspension yet.
