PHOTO CREDIT: The Sun Nigeria / Arise News
Sowore: My Pro-Democracy Struggle Paved Way For Amaechi’s Political Rise
Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has said his years of pro-democracy activism helped create the democratic space that allowed former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, to attain political office.

Sowore made the remark while reacting to his heated exchange with Amaechi at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt on Monday.

Speaking in an interview with Arise News on Tuesday, Sowore disclosed that after the confrontation, he told Amaechi to apologise, but the former governor instead invited him over for a drink.

“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 said.

Sowore insisted that leadership experience should not be judged only by holding public office, noting that his activism is also a form of leadership.

“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,” he stated.

He argued that true leadership requires vision, purpose and the ability to mobilize people to deliver results, not just technocratic expertise.

The clash at the NBA conference started after Sowore questioned Amaechi’s record as Rivers State governor and as Minister of Transportation, particularly criticizing rail projects executed under his tenure.

“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 had said.

Amaechi, who is now the vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), defended his record, listing roads and primary schools built during his time as governor and the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna rail lines delivered while he was Minister of Transportation.

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

Sowore maintained that his position on fuel subsidy removal remains unchanged, adding that he had warned that removing subsidy would damage the economy. He also said Amaechi was not an “Excellency” because, in his view, he had not done anything excellent for Nigeria.

The exchange took place during a governance debate at the NBA conference, which also featured Peter Obi and Adewole Adebayo discussing insecurity, fuel subsidy and Nigeria’s direction

SOURCE: The Sun Nigeria –