The clash between Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, and former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, did not end with their public spat at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference.
Amaechi later asked him to his house to eat and drink a beer, Sowore said, Daily Trust reports.
This is despite the disagreement that had earlier saw the two MPs exchange angry words before the crowd.
Sowore said after the confrontation, he called Amaechi and urged him that the ex-governor should apologise for the way the exchange played out.
Sowore said instead of apologising, Amaechi asked him to his house.
He stated: “So after the event I rang him and said you should have apologised to me, and he asked me to come round to his house for food and a beer.
And I responded no I don’t want you to poison me, since I know you are not pleased. I don’t think he would do it. No I mean I’m just kidding.”
The allegation emerged as Sowore persisted in advocating for his eligibility for the president, despite lacking any prior experience as an elected public office bearer.
“Leadership experience can also be gained through activism, public advocacy and efforts to influence governance and not just by occupying government positions,” the AAC candidate said.
“Leadership,” he continued, “is about understanding different sectors, setting a clear course and bringing the right people together with the right expertise to get things done.”
“When people are looking for leaders, they are not looking for an accountant alone, they are looking for someone who knows a little bit of everything. And can find everyone that can make things work. “That’s what leadership is all about,” he remarked.
Sowore further said that his activity has given possibilities to those who later emerged as political leaders even if they were not part of the struggles that occurred before them.
That is why I am saying that they owe me a lot because I have created the channel for them to become leaders. “I fought for what made me leaders, they didn’t,” he remarked.
His comment followed the Amaechi clash at the NBA conference where Sowore questioned the record of politicians who had held public office before.
Sowore particularly pointed fingers at Amaechi, the vice presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, during his time as governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transportation.
Sowore related the issue to his general critique of government policy, questioning the effectiveness of the Amaechi-affiliated railway projects.
We have a previous governor of Rivers State here, Amaechi, that constructed a train line that went nowhere. If the rail connection was running, subsidy would have been working for Rivers people’, he said.
Amaechi hit back by listing his achievements in government, including roads and primary schools built during his time as governor of Rivers State.
He also spoke of the Lagos Ibadan and Abuja Kaduna railroad projects delivered during his tenure as transportation minister and dared Rivers attorneys at the conference to accompany Sowore about the state to view projects performed under his administration.
The dispute degenerated, Amaechi ordered Sowore, “When politicians are talking, shut your mouth.
But Sowore stood his ground that previous occupancy of elective office should not be the sole yardstick for leadership expertise.
He also took the opportunity to re-iterate his position against the elimination of fuel subsidies, claiming he had warned of the implications before the program was instituted.
“In fact, most of the ideas that you are seeing that they are picking now, we started fighting for them. We have set forth them clearly. “We told them, remove our subsidy, we will destroy the economy,” he said.
Sowore said the suffering that followed the subsidy elimination proved him right and reiterated the necessity of the principles he has always canvassed.
He also flayed Amaechi’s political record, saying the former governor should no longer be referred to as a “Excellency”, saying that he had not done anything wonderful for Nigeria.”
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