Senator Abe Knocks Amaechi: Your Campaign Of Calumny Against Me Will Fail

The embattled governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Abe, has said the “campaign of calumny” being sponsored against him by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, will end in futility.

Abe, who is APC senator representing Rivers South East constituency in the Senate, accused Amaechi of using one of his cronies, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, to malign and spread false allegations against him in a newspaper publication.

The Senator said the publication was contained in the January 19, 2019 issue of the Nation Newspaper.

While threatening legal action against the newspaper and Chief Eze, Abe quoted the latter as stating in the publication that the ‘unfolding drama in Rivers State has exposed the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and the lawmaker representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Abe, a governorship aspirant on APC’s platform, as working together to cause confusion in Rivers APC.”

A statement by the Senator’s spokesperson, Parry Saroh Benson, reads: “The attention of Senator Magnus Ngei Abe has been drawn to a news report in the Nation Newspaper issue of Saturday 19, 2019 in which one Chief Chukwuemeka Eze an associate and former staff of the PDP Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and a paid hireling of the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi has continued to malign him and misinform the public with respect to the political crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State.

Saroh quoted Abe as saying, “ordinary it would have been needless to dignify a character like Chief Eze with a response as the issues affecting the APC in Rivers State has been in public domain for over two years.”

The statement further reads, “However, purveyors of such falsehood and deliberate campaign of calumny must be brought to account, as their aim is to destroy a reputation that has taken time and consistent actions over the years to build.

“Eze had in the said publication alleged that the ‘unfolding drama in Rivers State has exposed the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and the lawmaker representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Abe, a governorship aspirant on APC’s platform, as working together to cause confusion in Rivers APC.”

Senator Abe said, “the entire nation is aware that there are crisis in several political parties, and several state chapters of our own political party, the APC in Nigeria.

“But, rather than pursue civilized options of dialogue and reconciliation which could have resolved the Rivers crisis before it ballooned out of proportion, political mercenaries, and conflict entrepreneurs like Chief Eze, who has no ward or polling unit in Rivers State has continually misled the Minister of Transportation into the false belief that he was a Superman and every contrary voice in the party must be crushed.

He went further to say, “I have no issues with Pastor Cole but Nigerians will always remember, that as one of the founding members of the APC in Rivers State, I did not leave the APC to attempt to take over Sahara Energy as its Managing Director, rather it was Mr. Cole who brought himself into the midst of a raging political dispute in the APC in Rivers State to claim the award of the gubernatorial ticket of our party in the state without a proper understanding of the issues in contention. He made the choice to ignore the existing court orders that already defined the issues in the party.

“The decision to ignore party members who were summarily barred by the Minister of Transportation from taking part in the party congresses was not a decision taken by Governor Wike.

“For those who set the house on fire, and refused water to douse the fire even when it was offered to turn around to continually malign people who have practically sacrificed their lives for the party is most offensive.

Senator Abe added that, “In the light of this continued campaign of blackmail and calumny, I have instructed my lawyers to take out a writ for libel against chief Eze, the Nation Newspaper and his sponsors. The time has come for him to step out and defend these allegations in the court of law, even though Nigerians know that Eze and his sponsors have no respect for the courts.”