Immediate past Senator representing Rivers South East Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Abe, has condemned the alleged announcement by the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi on Rivers state All Progressives Congress, APC.
Amaechi who was known as the leader of APC in Rivers State, reportedly made the announcement on the state party congress during his inauguration by President Muhammad Buhari as the Minister of Transportation, held in Abuja.
Senator Abe who spoke at the weekend in Port Harcourt, during a courtesy visit on him by the Rivers APC Visionary Media Team led by Robertson Jack, noted that the Minister of Transportation should concentrate on achieving the needed contribution to the development of the nation than creating another avenue for tension and crisis in the political structure of the party.
He stressed that Amaechi if he is sincere about rebuilding the structure of the party, he should first admit and respect the interest, rights and feelings of all the members of the party, adding that instead the alleged selfish interest of the Minister had led the party to where it is today in the state.
He urged members of the party to be more committed to the growth of APC in the state without fear or favour to an individual in the detriment of all other members who have for years duly paid their dues in the party.
He assured the group that even if he is out of office he is committed to the ideologies of the party, saying that what they need is peace, inclusiveness, progress and commitment of all members to move the party forward.
He said: “Look at our party here today in Rivers state, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on assuming office as Minister of Transportation, the first thing he did was to announce Congress in Rivers state and I ask myself, this was the same kind of behaviour that led the party to where it is.
“Everybody in Nigeria knows that the origin of the crisis in Rivers APC was from the Congress and how the Congress was handled and there are Judicial pronouncements of the Congress which you ignored and led the party to ignore and we have all kept quiet in the hope that by keeping quiet we will create room for resolution of some of these challenges so the party can move forward. But instead, you become more crazy in your challenge to the right, feelings and attitudes of others within the same political party. How do we do that and expect to make progress.
“What kind of Congress, is it the Chairman of the party, is it the National Working Committee, is it the Court, what gives you power to come and announce Congress on the day you were inaugurated as Minister. Rather than address the issues of the country and the issues of your Ministry, the first thing you could do is to reopen sourest point in the heart of members of the party. And it is on that basis that party members have been deprived of every benefit. Is that how to grow a political family, it that how to grow politics. We will not accept that congress.
“I just want to say to you people that sometimes when we keep quiet out of respect for the party and out of respect given for our own past and out of understanding on the knowledge that without justice there can be no peace and without peace there can be no progress. We must all recommit ourselves to the need for peace in the party and the way forward to get peace in the party is by ensuring that there is justice, fairness in the party so that everybody feel free to realise and gather support for the party.
“There are registered members of this great party who paid their dues; they have rights just like any other person. They may not be close to the President but they are members of the APC and part of the reason the party is in power. So let’s us respect the rights and feelings of everybody within the party, accommodate them so that the party can move forward.”
” I appreciate all of you for coming to pay this visit on me this morning and to also say as I have said repeatedly, that I remain a committed member of the All Progressives Congress, APC. I am out of office but not out of politics. I think you people need to understand the difference between that. There are politicians who are in politic, and when I was in office as a politician, there were other politicians who were not in office but they were still in politics.
