‘I Don’t Want You To Poison Me’ – Sowore Speaks On Amaechi’s Attack

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has said he demanded an apology from former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi after their heated exchange at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt.

Naija News reports that Sowore said the disagreement, which occurred during the political session of the conference on Monday, stemmed from differences over their respective contributions to Nigeria’s political development and governance.

The AAC candidate made the disclosure on Tuesday while speaking on Arise News, where he also defended his political credentials despite never holding an elective public office.

According to Sowore, he contacted Amaechi after the conference and told the former governor that he owed him an apology.

He recalled that Amaechi instead invited him to his residence for food and drinks.

Sowore 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.”

Sowore argued that his activism during the struggle for democracy helped create the political environment that allowed politicians such as Amaechi to rise through elective and appointive positions.

He said that had Nigeria remained under military rule, Amaechi would not have occupied the offices of Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, governor or Minister of Transportation.

Sowore further stated, “If I didn’t fight for democracy, Rotimi Amaechi would not be standing there yesterday if we were still under military rule.

“He would never have been a speaker of the House for eight years, governor for eight years, minister for eight years. That’s one of the guys who benefited from my extraordinary struggle for democracy.”

Sowore maintained that his experience should not be dismissed simply because he had not previously governed a state or held a ministerial position.

The AAC presidential candidate said his years of activism had given him a different perspective on leadership, particularly through his campaigns for democratic governance and accountability.

He argued that effective leadership required more than expertise in a particular profession.

The presidential candidate said, “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.”

Sowore also insisted that politicians who benefited from Nigeria’s democratic system owed recognition to those who fought for its restoration.

He said, “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.”

The disagreement between the two politicians began during the NBA conference when Sowore criticised the records of former public office holders, including Amaechi.

He questioned Amaechi’s achievements as governor of Rivers State and his tenure as Transportation Minister, particularly his handling of railway projects and the fuel subsidy issue.

Sowore had told the gathering, “We have a former governor of Rivers State here, Amaechi, who built a rail line that went nowhere. If that rail line was working, the subsidy would have been working for Rivers people.”

Amaechi, who is the African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, rejected the criticism and highlighted projects executed during his time in office.

He cited the construction of roads and primary schools during his tenure as governor, as well as the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna railway projects completed while he served as Transportation Minister.

The former governor also challenged Rivers lawyers at the conference to take Sowore around the state to inspect projects carried out under his administration.

The argument escalated when Amaechi told Sowore, “When politicians are talking, close your mouth.”

Speaking after the encounter, Sowore said the disagreement had not altered his position on the country’s economic policies.

He defended his opposition to the removal of the petrol subsidy, saying he had warned against the policy before it was implemented.

Sowore added, “As a matter of fact, most of the ideas you are seeing that they are picking now, we started fighting for it. We have clearly articulated them. We told them, remove our subsidy, we’ll ruin the economy.”

Sowore argued that the economic difficulties following the subsidy removal reinforced his earlier warnings.

He maintained that leadership should be assessed by a person’s vision, convictions, ability to mobilise people and commitment to solving national problems, rather than solely by previous government positions.