The lawmaker representing Aba North & South Federal Constituency, Alex Ikwechegh, has said he's now friends with the Bolt driver he slapped as seen in a viral video.

The video of Ikwechegh assaulting the e-hailing driver, identified as Abuwatseya, went viral last October to the anger of many Nigerians who felt the lawmaker abused his position.

In the video, Ikwechegh was seen angrily confronting and hitting the driver while making threatening remarks.

He said, “Can you imagine this rat? I can make this man disappear in the whole of Nigeria and nothing will happen.”

According to the video, the e-haling driver was hired to deliver goods to the lawmaker at his house in Abuja.

However, when he arrived at the location, Ikwechegh was angered because he refused to step out of the car to deliver the goods.

The lawmaker then landed three slaps on Abuwatseya's face while the driver maintained his composure all through the assault.

The police subsequently arrested Ikwechegh and arraigned him but the matter was settled out of court.

Appearing on Channels Television's Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday, Ikwechegh said he's now known as “the man that makes things disappear.”

He said, “What happened was quite unfortunate but I take it as an avenue for me as a person to also build a relationship with the young man. Today, we are friends. I was taken to court but the court found no merit and then it was struck out.”

“The video that everybody saw was a low moment. I felt the sanctity of my home was being desecrated. The part of the video where you people saw was the part that people saw; people do not know what happened before that reaction. Like they say, actions pre-empt reactions.

“But whatever anybody has seen is not indicative of who I am. I’ve been in the public space for a very long time and there has never been any scandal about me. However, the young man is my friend now and I am very close to his bishop, his pastor and I’ve made a bunch of new friends and today the whole of Nigeria now knows me as the man that makes things to disappear. We’ve moved on, it’s in the past now,” he added.