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The intense verbal clash between African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore and former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference did not conclude with their public dispute.
Sowore revealed that Amaechi subsequently invited him to his private residence for a meal and a beer.
This gesture happened despite the heated disagreement that previously saw both politicians trade sharp remarks before the gathering.
According to Sowore, he reached out to Amaechi following the incident and told him that the ex-governor should have apologized for how the confrontation transpired.
Instead of issuing an apology, Sowore stated that Amaechi invited him to his house.
He said: “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.”
“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.
This revelation came as Sowore continued defending his qualification to run for the presidency despite lacking prior tenure in an elected public seat.
The AAC standard-bearer argued that leadership capabilities can equally stem from activism, public advocacy, and efforts directed at shaping governance instead of just holding government posts.
He explained that true leadership demands the capacity to understand diverse sectors, establish clear direction, and assemble experts capable of producing outcomes.
“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 stated.
Sowore further asserted that his political activism helped pave pathways for individuals who later rose to political leadership positions without participating in foundational struggles.
“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 expressed.
His remarks followed the confrontation with Amaechi at the NBA conference, where Sowore challenged the track records of politicians who previously held public office.
Amaechi, running as the African Democratic Congress vice presidential candidate, faced sharp criticism from Sowore over his time governing Rivers State and serving as Minister of Transportation.
Sowore questioned the utility of railway projects linked to Amaechi and tied the matter into broader criticisms of government policies.
“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,” he remarked.
Amaechi defended his public service record, pointing to roads and primary schools built during his Rivers administration.
He also highlighted the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna rail lines delivered during his tenure as transportation minister, challenging Rivers lawyers at the event to tour the state and inspect his executed projects.
The confrontation heightened when Amaechi told Sowore: “When politicians are talking, close your mouth.”
Sowore maintained his stance that past elected office tenure should not serve as the sole benchmark for leadership aptitude.
He used the opportunity to reiterate his opposition to fuel subsidy removal, stating he had forecasted the economic repercussions before implementation.
“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,” he noted.
According to Sowore, the subsequent hardship validated his prior warnings and proved the value of his persistent positions.
He additionally criticized Amaechi’s political legacy, rejecting the continued use of the title “Excellency” for the former governor because, in his view, Amaechi delivered nothing excellent for Nigeria.
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