Rivers State governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 general election, Magnus Abe said nobody can disqualify him from contesting the Rivers State governorship election in 2023.
He also said he cannot be pushed out of the party on grounds of membership revalidation.
Abe, who stated this during an interactive session with journalists in Port Harcourt, explained that there were constitutional provisions through which one could cease to be a member of the party.
He was reacting to comments by some members loyal to the immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, that he was not a member of the party because he and his supporters refused to attend the last revalidation of the party.
Abe said, “I don’t think anybody can push me out of the APC. The party has a constitution. You wanted to do revalidation and the national chairman of the party called me by himself and told me that when the people get there this and this are what they are going to do.
“The last time we had this kind of issue, we all met and agreed on what to do. It was never done. I came here, you wanted to do revalidation and you picked people per ward across the state and I did not know anybody.
“You wanted only me to be at the front of the camera so that you could take a picture. What of thousands of my supporters? The party sent a committee here and the committee was satisfied that the exercise was not carried out fairly and then made its recommendations.
“The recommendations were never respected. That was why the party decided last time that in Rivers State, the revalidation should not be used.’’
Abe noted that talks about validation were in his party’s party constitution, insisting that nobody could disqualify him on that basis.
“I have my party card and number. I have not resigned from the party. There are constitutional provisions through which one can cease to be a member of a party,” he stated.
He also said that the problem of the party in the state started when Amaechi said those with him (Abe) were no longer members of the party.
Speaking on chances of a former Lagos State governor and presidential hopeful, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to clinch the APC ticket, Abe said he stood with Tinubu.
“I promised my daughter that I will not support anybody that I do not believe will add value to Nigerians. As far as APC is concerned, there is only one Nigerian that has the capacity of doing something for the betterment of the people.
“It is only Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that has done so well in the history of Nigerian politics, economy, and governance,” Abe stated.
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