Senator Magnus Abe, a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, has said the party would not accept the emergence of any governorship candidate from a kangaroo process.
Abe, who was obviously referring to the naming of Tonye Cole as the party’s consensus candidate by a committee established by the Transport Minister, Chibuike Amaechi, insisted that nobody in spite of wealth or social status could enslave Rivere people.
Abe, in a statement by his spokesperson, Parry Benson, spoke at the National School Field, Okrika, during the stakeholders meeting with the people of Okrika and Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area of the State on Sunday.
He noted that Rivers people would not allow anybody to enslave them through crooked maneuvering. He advised his supporters to brace up for the fight ahead, which he said would not be easy.
He said: “I have said it before and want to say it again, that Rivers people have never been slaves to anybody and nobody no matter the amount of money he has, nobody can enslave us here in Rivers State. We can chart our own destiny. Let me assure you all that the road ahead will not be easy but you have the power, the capacity and audacity and I know that we can do it. We will do it and we’ll win. I will present myself to the Rivers people and if they decide to choose a better person over me through a transparent process, I will support that person. We must have a clear and transparent process. But if they bring somebody through a Kangaroo process, we will not accept. We will challenge it”.
The APC governorship hopeful said that the party needed everybody to be able to succeed insisted that the party leaders must make room to accommodate everybody.
He said: “As far as possible, we must be able to work together to bring our party together. Let us not deceive ourselves; this party needs everybody to be able to succeed. We must be able to make room for one another. We must be able to accommodate one another. In politics disagreements are normal and it is expected. What is not normal in politics, is hatred such as people have been preaching amongst us here, the Rivers people. Whether you are APC or PDP; whether you are with Magnus or with Amaechi, you are a Rivers man. You are the proud son of your father and your mother. You deserve the best and the reason why we are doing politics is so that we can offer you the best. And that is why I am here. We have a track record of saying something and standing by what we said.”
Also speaking, a former Rivers Assembly member and APC stalwart, Golden Ben Chioma, said members of the party in the state unanimously agreed to support the aspiration of the party’s national leader, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu to become Nigeria’s next President come 2023.
Chioma said: “All of us gathered here have decided to support Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu for the post of President. We all love what he did in Lagos as governor and convinced that he can replicate that in Nigeria”.
Former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Worgu Boms, berated the leadership of the party in the state for endorsing the consensus candidate of Pastor Tonye Cole.
He said: “If there is no Magnus Abe in APC Rivers State, there will be no APC this time around. Quote me. Bring somebody who knows our culture and tradition and not your business partners”.
