The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Abe has come out to claim that Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, is trying to discredit him and his aspirations.
Abe, who claimed that he was not prepared for war against Wike, also claimed that the governor failed to provide security in Rivers during the recent Governorship and State House of Assembly elections.
He spoke while fielding questions on Arise Television’s Morning Show which was monitored by Africa Today News, New York on Thursday.
According to him, ‘If you could recall, the Social Democratic Party was none-existence in Rivers State, practically so a few months ago until we came into the party.
‘Now, when you talk about being serious, yes, I was not prepared for war, so if he [Wike] says I was not prepared, I was not prepared for war. But in a serious election, people are allowed to come out and vote, so we did not prepare for war, we prepared for elections. It is the responsibility of the government to have provided an environment in which Rivers people can vote and now that did not happen.
‘Now, what the governor is trying to do for some reasons and I want Nigerians to look into it, all through the elections, he was not attacking Senator Abe. Now that the elections are over, all of a sudden, Senator Abe is his prime target, trying to discredit me and my aspirations.’
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He further added; ‘Now let me say this, he is an Ikwerre man. The thing he is fighting for at the national level is that a Fulani man should not succeed another Fulani man, but in Rivers State, he is an Ikwerre man. He had his own ambition to succeed his brother Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is also from Ikwerre. He came out and pursued that ambition without reservation.
‘People died for him to achieve that. He did not say his ambition was unserious, but I am an Ogoni man. In the entire history of Rivers State, no Ogoni man has ever had the opportunity to even contest in a major political party and I decided to contest.
‘I have no apologies to offer to anybody. I am eminently qualified. Rivers people knew who won the election. They knew who also did not win the election. So whatever the governor wants to say, he is free to say it. But I want to say here to the entire world that my name is Senator Magnus Abe.
‘So somebody who did not run a campaign, who did not win the election, was declared winner with almost three hundred thousand votes. So I did not need to go. He is free to say whatever he likes. He is a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but he should also understand that we, too, are citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we have our rights, and I am not somebody he can just come out and hush in public, he should say what he wants to say, but I have the right to contest and I am very proud of the fact that I stood out for my right and Rivers peoples stood with me.
‘If he wanted to know what Rivers people think about him, his administration and me and about my right to contest, the proper thing to have done was to have allowed an election. He didn’t allow one. So having scuttled the election, he has no right to come out and run down anybody. He cannot do that.’
Africa Today News, New York reports that reactions have continued to trail the conduct of the Rivers State governorship poll.