Chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Magnus Abe, has declared he will contest for the 2023 governorship election in the state.
Abe, a senator who represented Rivers South-East district in the National Assembly and the factional leader of APC in Rivers State, made the declaration, yesterday, during the inauguration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu Vanguard for Ward 4, 5 and 6 in Gokana Council of the state.
Abe’s declaration came barely a week after 10 APC governorship aspirants loyal to the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, signed an agreement to support whoever emerges as the party’s standard bearer in the 2023 general election.
It means he will join other 10 governorship aspirants in APC to contest for the party’s governorship ticket during the party’s primary in May.
Abe, however, said he would only support anyone who emerges APC gubernatorial candidate in the state under a free, fair and equitable contest, warning that anything short of that would be resisted.
“I have not said and I will not say that Abe must be the candidate of APC in Rivers State. I have always said that if we have a fair, free, transparent, inclusive and equitable contest and somebody emerges from that process, as a democrat I will support whoever emerges in that contest and the person will win.
“But if you go and cook up a process to exclude me, it will not work. They cannot decide for Rivers people, Rivers people will decide for themselves. We don’t need a riverine or upland candidate that is known to Amaechi. 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.”
Earlier, a former Attorney General of Rivers State, Worgu Boms, said that Abe remained the most qualified candidate for the job. Boms said APC would not exist in the state without Senator Magnus Abe.
