The Senator representing Rivers South East District at the National Assembly, Magnus Abe, has said that members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State should have themselves to blame for inflaming the crisis that led to the party’s woes in the State.
He stated this yesterday while responding to questions during an audience participation programme on Naija info – 92.3FM.
According to him, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should not be blamed for the exclusion of APC in the ballot paper.
“The fact that our party was not on the ballot was actually a tragedy for Rivers State. But I believe that all things work together for good, given that fact, I would not like to speculates on what INEC is doing or what INEC has done because we are not on the ballot. But what I will say, what I have said and what I must say here is that Rivers people must be clear on one thing. INEC did not takeoff the APC from the ballot. It was APC members who went to court because of what was happening within the party and it was the court who gives the order for APC not to be on the ballot. So nobody can hold INEC responsible for the fact that we were not on the ballot.”
Senator Abe, who maintained that his faction of the APC in the state was not informed about the alliance with the African Action Congress (AAC), expressed disappointment over the violence that took place during the 2019 general election in the state.
“And I also said clearly there that members of our party and my supporters, friends and indeed Rivers people should not vote for the AAC or DCC or whatever it was, because it will not be in the interest of our state.
“I was very clear that I did not receive any communication from the national headquarters of our party to go into alliance with anybody, and as one of the leaders of the party in the state, I was not consulted about any such alliance and I didn’t know what the terms were.
“So I was very clear that Rivers people should not be deceived into doing something that will not be in the interest of the state and I still stand by that.” He said.
