Abe Threatens APC Over Rivers Governorship Primary

Rivers State Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Magnus Abe, has threatened to boycott the party’s gubernatorial primary if the party fails to adopt the direct primaries system in selecting their flagbearer ahead of its primary on Saturday.

Abe, who is also the Senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, spoke while addressing his supporters at a rally in his senatorial zone in Bori on Thursday.

Senator Abe said the former governor and current minister of transport Rotimi Amaechi had reneged on his promise to support an Ogoni man for the Rivers governorship, a promise Abe alleged Amechi had made while he was governor.

Abe alleged injustice in Rivers APC, as he said direct primaries was the only way to boycott quagmire in the party.

The statement read in parts: “Since the creation of Rivers State, no son of our district has been a governor, none, every other senatorial district in this state has produced a governor at one time or the other, some senatorial districts have produced several governors but we have not”

“An Ikwere Chief defined the meaning of Justice and Injustice to me, he told me that injustice is when equals are threatened unequally or unequals are treated equally. Are the other senatorial districts in Rivers state are they more equal than Rivers South East senatorial districts? Why should we be treated unequally, that is injustice?”

“I stand before you here as an Ogoni son, a lot has been said about the Ogoni people, but I know one thing we believe in justice, we have been just, we have been fair and we have stood by every other ethnic group in this state.

“I will remember when it was time for my brother, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi to be governor, it was the Ogoni Chiefs led by the same King Giniwa, that they are abusing today, that led all the Ogoni Chiefs as a delegation to Dr Peter Odili to make a case for the Ikwere people, we did not stop there, we took a full page advert in THISDAY Newspapers at that time paid for by the Ogoni people. Today an Ogoni son wants to be governor and some people are making noise, who are those people? Who are those people? Nobody!

“People want to incite enmity between the Ogoni people and the Kalabari people.”

“Some time ago the former governor of Rivers state Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi invited the Ogoni leadership to Government House, not once but twice, we were all there, King Giniwa was there, the President of MASSOP was there, the President of KAGOTE was there, our Bishops were there, our academic leaders were there, political leaders were there, and before all of them he promised the Ogoni people, he said anybody who was not from Ogoni should leave the room, and he told us that the reason we have not produced a governor is because we have not made enough noise, that because the World has not heard us that’s why the injustice that is being done to the Ogoni people has not been corrected, that next time when it is time for the governorship to come up, he will lead the campaign for an Ogoni governor, now is that time where is he?”

“The next thing I want to say is to the national leadership of our party, we continue to worship individuals in a party we have said we are standing for change, they said the President has appointed somebody DG two times, that they cannot take his state from him, Rivers state does not belong to anybody and we are supporting the president and the president needs our support, nobody can come and offend the people so that they cannot support the President, it is wrong.

“If the primaries in Rivers State on Saturday is not by direct primary, I Senator Magnus Nge Abe will not accept the result, I will not take part of that primaries.”

“We met at a meeting and said that there will be direct primaries, and the National Chairman said there will be direct primaries anywhere were there will be issues that will make the outcome of the primaries legally contested, and the first example he cited was Rivers state, but as soon as Amechi was made DG again everything changed.

“Nobody is stronger than all of us, I am the only son of this district in the All Progressives Congress that bought the form for the governorship and I am contesting.

“It is the responsibility of the party to create a level playing field, where all of us can contest and do so in such a manner that the result of that contest will be acceptable to all, if the party fail to do so, I hereby serve them notice, they should go and remove my name from the list of those contesting.

“I will not take part in any primaries that have already determined, I will not be part of any show to coronate a King that will not be crowned.”