A governorship aspirant in Rivers State, and Senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Abe, has said that he would not comment on the names of governorship candidates in Rivers State as released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2019 General Elections.
Abe, who made his position known, while responding to a reporter’s question in Port-Harcourt at the weekend, on the fact that his name was “conspicuously missing” from the list, said that he would not comment on the issue so that he would not break his promise to a friend, whom he assured that he would not comment on INEC’s release of names of governorship candidates in Rivers State for next year’s general elections.
Abe said: “You know, I had promised a very senior friend of mine that I won’t comment on that issue but you and I know that it is a non-issue because they had said so since last week and you also know that there are legal issues on ground. Let me not break my commitment to my friend. I won’t comment on it”.
INEC had recently released the names of governorship candidates of political parties in Rivers State for the forthcoming 2019 General Elections. In the INEC list, Governor Nyesom Wike of the PDP emerged governorship candidate while billionaire businessman, Tonye Cole, becomes governorship candidate for the APC.
While the APC governorship candidate, Tonye Cole, is from the Kalabari axis of the State, Governor Nyesom Wike is from Ikwerre ethnic nationality, and will be running for re-election in the forthcoming 2019 General Elections.
Meanwhile, Senator Magnus Abe has said that he is confident that the Federal Government of Nigeria will meet the demands of the Ogoni people in their struggle for justice on environmental issues.
Senator Abe, who stated this in an interview with journalists in Port-Harcourt at the weekend as Ogonis marked 23rd anniversary of Ogoni Martyrs’ Day, said that he is sure that the Federal Government will satisfy the needs of Ogoni people because they have been “consistent” and peaceful in their struggle for justice.
He said: “I think that the government has an obligation to show by example that those who are non-violent, those who are peaceful in their demands need not be neglected. So, it is in the interest of Nigeria that the requests and the demands of the Ogoni people should be looked at seriously and I think the Federal Government is of that opinion”.
Abe also said that the federal government is committed to the clean-up of Ogoni as was recommended by the United Nations Environmetal Programme (UNEP) in its report.
He said that the fact that the federal government has released money for the clean-up exercise is a sign that the government is serious about the project, saying that he believes that the Ogoni clean-up exercise is “very much on course”.###
