African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has revealed what former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi offered him after their heated exchange at the Nigerian Bar Association conference in Port Harcourt.
Sowore said Amaechi invited him to his residence for a meal and a beer after the confrontation, despite the disagreement between them during the presidential aspirants’ session at the event.
Speaking about the incident, Sowore said he contacted Amaechi after the session and told him that the former governor should have apologised for the way he addressed him during the exchange.
“That’s why I said to him after the event, I called him and said, you should have apologised to me, and he asked me to come over to his house to eat and drink a beer,” Sowore said.
The AAC candidate, however, said he jokingly declined the invitation, suggesting that he was wary of accepting food or drinks from someone who had just argued with him publicly.
“And I said, no, I don’t want you to poison me, because I know you’re not happy. I don’t think he would do that. No, I mean, I’m just kidding,” he added.
The incident occurred during the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Port Harcourt, where political figures gathered for a session titled “Politics, People, and Nigeria’s Future: Forget the Slogans.”
Amaechi, who is the African Democratic Congress vice-presidential candidate to Atiku Abubakar, was speaking about his record in public office when Sowore challenged some of his claims.
The former governor became visibly displeased with the interruption and told Sowore, “When politicians are talking, close your mouth.”
Amaechi also challenged Rivers lawyers at the conference to take Sowore around the state to see projects executed during his eight-year administration.
“Where are Rivers lawyers, let them take Sowore around and show him what I did as a former Governor,” Amaechi said.
The former governor served as Rivers State governor between 2007 and 2015 before becoming Minister of Transportation under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
During the exchange, Sowore questioned the impact of projects associated with Amaechi’s tenure, particularly railway projects delivered while he was transportation minister.
“We have a former governor of Rivers State here, Amaechi, who built a rail line that went nowhere. If that rail line was working, subsidy would have been working for Rivers people,” Sowore said.
Amaechi defended his record by pointing to roads and primary schools constructed during his administration in Rivers, as well as the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna railway projects delivered while he served as transportation minister.
Meanwhile, the AAC presidential candidate, who has never held an elected public office, argued that activism, public advocacy and sustained efforts to influence government policies could also prepare an individual for leadership.
“When people are looking for leaders, they are not looking for an accountant alone; they’re looking for someone who understands a little bit of everything. And who can find everybody who can make things work. That’s what leadership is all about,” he said.
Sowore also claimed that his activism had contributed to creating opportunities for some individuals who later emerged as political leaders.
“That is why I’m saying that they owe me a lot for creating the avenue for them to become leaders. Even though they didn’t fight for what made them become leaders, I did,” he said.
He further defended his long-standing opposition to the removal of petrol subsidy, saying he had warned that the policy would worsen economic hardship before it was implemented.
“As a matter of fact, most of the ideas you are seeing that they are picking now, we started fighting for them. We have clearly articulated them. We told them, remove our subsidy, we’ll ruin the economy,” Sowore said.
Sowore also criticised the continued use of the title “Excellency” for former political office holders, arguing that occupying a high office should not automatically translate into being regarded as an excellent leader.
