Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The 2027 presidential race has taken a bitter turn as the African Action Congress (AAC) candidate, Omoyele Sowore, staked a direct claim to the political legacy of former Rivers State Governor and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi. Sowore, speaking in an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, declared that the former governor would never have reached the heights of his political career without his own "extraordinary struggle for democracy."
The claim follows a fierce confrontation between the two politicians at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Port Harcourt on Monday. During a session that brought together presidential candidates for the 2027 election, Amaechi, now the vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), had brusquely silenced Sowore, telling him to "close your mouth" when politicians with governing experience were talking.
Sowore, reflecting on that exchange, did not hold back. He argued that his activism against military rule in Nigeria created the democratic space that allowed figures like Amaechi to ascend to power. "If I did not fight for democracy, Rotimi Amaechi would never have been governor or minister," Sowore declared. He added, "He benefited from my extraordinary struggle for democracy." In a direct challenge, Sowore revealed that after the NBA event, he called Amaechi and demanded an apology. "After the NBA event, I asked him to apologise to me," Sowore said, adding that Amaechi’s response was to invite him to his house for a drink. "And I said, no, I don't want you to poison me," Sowore joked, though the underlying tension was palpable.
The AAC candidate framed his political experience not in terms of holding public office, but in his long-standing commitment to good governance. "What's your passion? What's your goal in life? Mine was to bring about good governance and to establish democracy," he stated. He argued that without the democratic foundation he helped build, Amaechi would not have been able to serve eight years as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, eight years as governor, and another eight years as a federal minister. "That's one of the guys who benefited from my extraordinary struggle for democracy," he reiterated.
The clash at the NBA conference had already set the stage for this war of words. During the session, Sowore had criticised Amaechi’s record as governor, specifically pointing to a rail line he built that "went nowhere." He also linked the failure of transportation infrastructure to the broader debate on fuel subsidy, arguing that if the rail line had been functional, it would have served the people of Rivers State. Amaechi, for his part, fiercely defended his legacy, citing roads, primary schools, and the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna railway projects as evidence of his performance.
The exchange between the two political figures has become a flashpoint in the 2027 electioneering, highlighting the deep personal animosities that are shaping the contest. Sowore's demand for an apology from Amaechi is a bold attempt to assert his relevance in a race dominated by political heavyweights. As he put it, "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.
Whether Amaechi will offer the apology Sowore demands or whether this verbal battle will escalate remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: for Omoyele Sowore, the fight for democracy is not just a historical footnote—it is a political weapon he intends to wield all the way to the 2027 polls.
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