As the race for different elected political offices gathers momentum across the nation ahead of the 2023 general elections, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe has declared his interest to contest for the governorship seat of Rivers State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2023 elections.
The former senator, who represented Rivers South-East senatorial district at the National Assembly made the declaration in Gokana Local Government Area, on Sunday, following the inauguration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, BAT, Vanguard excos in B-Dere Community, Rivers State.
Abe said that any cooked up plan devoid of a clean, clear and credible process in order to exclude him from clinching the governorship ticket of the APC, as well as deny the teeming members of the party in the state from choosing their preferred candidate would definitely fail.
He said that the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, cannot pick a candidate for the Brick House, adding that only Rivers people have the power to choose who becomes governor of the state.
The former federal lawmaker, in a release by his spokesperson, Party Saroh Benson, mocked a recent pact reportedly entered into by governorship aspirants seeking a riverine governor, saying such arrangements would not work.
Senator Abe said, “I heard that some people gathered to say they are gubernatorial candidates of the APC. They have reached a pact; that it is a riverine governor and that they have agreed to whatever they said. Did you see me there? Will it work? We all know that it is not going to work.
“I don’t want to say anything about them because they are my friends and they have not done anything wrong. They are following somebody who has no plan. They are going to do thanksgiving when they have not put any plan on ground in Rivers State that will help the APC to do better than it did the last time.
“It is wrong to drag God into what you are doing, when you are not doing well. When you plan, you dedicate your plan in a dedication service. It is when you win that you should have a thanksgiving service.”
Vowing to resist any attempt aimed at excluding him from contesting for the governorship ticket on the platform of the APC, Abe noted that he would support whoever emerges via a credible process.
He added, “I have not said that Senator Magnus Abe must be the candidate of the APC in Rivers State. I have always said and will repeat, if we have a fair, free, equitable contest and somebody emerges from that process, I, Magnus Ngei Abe, will support whoever emerges from such a process and the person will win.
“But if you go and cook up a process to exclude me, it is not me that you are excluding. They are excluding all of you. If they exclude all of you, will they win? They will not win. So, it is not rocket science.
“We don’t need a riverine or upland candidate that is known to Ameachi. What we need is a Rivers candidate that is known by Rivers people with the capacity and integrity to deliver. That is why I, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, will contest for the gubernatorial ticket of the APC in Rivers State.
“Let me advise the party, we have been through this road many times. We should not make the same mistake again. There should be an end to political rascality in Rivers State. We should not disregard the people and expect a good result.”
The release also stated that a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Barrister Worgu Boms, had earlier declared that Senator Abe is the most qualified candidate to be the next governor.
