Prepare For Congresses In Rivers – Amaechi
No Congresses Unless… – Abe
The leadership tussle in the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State between the Transportation Minister, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and the immediate past Senator representing Rivers South-East District, Hon. Magnus Abe appears to be far from over despite the huge loss suffered by the party in 2019 elections in the State as a result of same infighting.
In a recent verbal attack and muscle flexing, the two APC chieftains and former allies showcased their maverick character, thus disagreeing to the political thinking that politicians should have three hats – one for throwing in the ring one for talking through, and one for pulling rabbits out of if elected.
Covertly admitting that the fight was not yet over, Rotimi Amaechi had reportedly told his supporters shortly after his inauguration as a second term Minister in Abuja to go home and begin to prepare for the party congresses in the State, a pronouncement that did not go down well with Magnus Abe who appears worse hit by the failure of the APC to participate in the 2019 general elections in the State.
Hon. Abe, a serving Senator then, contested and won the governorship primary of a faction of the APC and could not go back to the Senate while Amaechi, then Minister of Transportation has been re-appointed into office.
Amaechi, during the reception in Abuja for making the second term ministerial list of President Muhammadu Buhari asked his supporters to get ready for the APC Congresses in the State.
In his reaction, Magnus Ngei Abe, described as unacceptable, the announcement by the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi on the conduct of congresses of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State.
Abe spoke recently when members of the APC Visionary Media Team paid him a courtesy visit at his residence in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
He noted that the Minister of Transportation rather than concentrate on achieving the needed contribution to national development is creating another avenue for tension and crisis in the political structure of the party, demonstrating the same unruly behavior that brought the party in Rivers State to a fiasco.
Abe urged the minister to demonstrate his sincerity in rebuilding the party by consulting others and showing respect for the rights and feelings of all members of the party.
He assured the group that even if he is out of office, he is still a politician that is committed to the development of the party, insisting that what is needed is peace, inclusiveness, progress and the commitment of all members to move the party forward.
Abe further said: “Look at the state of our party here today in Rivers State, yet the Minister of Transportation, on assumption of office as Minister of Transportation, the first thing he did was to announce Congresses 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 extant Judicial pronouncements on the last Congress which the party was misled 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.
Instead, you become more brazen in your challenge to the rights, feelings and interest of others within the same political party. How do we do that and expect to make progress?
What kind of Congress, is he the Chairman of the party? Is he the National Working Committee? Is he the Court? What gives him the power to come and announce Congress on the day he was inaugurated as Minister?
Rather than address the issues of the country and the issues of his Ministry, the first thing he could do was to reopen the sourest point in the heart of members of the party. And it is on that basis that party members are deprived of all rights and benefits in the party we all suffered to build. Is that how to grow a political family? Is that how to grow politics? We will not accept that congress.
Sometimes we keep quiet out of respect for the party and out of understanding, but we all know 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 can feel free to work together and gather support for the party.
We must try as much as possible to be instruments of peace, unity, and progress within the APC.
The minister, cannot sit in his office and make pronouncement on a matter in which he and several other people have interest, people have gone to court, people have fought for their rights in that congress and the same thing that he did before, by creating confusion in the first place, he is determined to continue to do it because he wants to prove to the world that he is a conqueror. As I said before, nobody can conquer Rivers people.
If you want the support of Rivers people ask for it, work for it and you will get it. Nobody is against anybody. We all left our homes to serve, improve our society and improve ourselves and to do that we need to work with other people.
If we work with others and respect the views and sensibilities of others, it will help in creating an avenue for this party to move forward.
Any other way by force or by fire is nothing but a pathway to self-immolation for the APC in Rivers State and we will not allow anybody to set the party on fire and destroy it.
I appreciate you all 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.
Every politician cannot hold office at the same time. So, I really wish to restate that though am out of office. In or out of office, my commitment to our party, my commitment to the development, progress, peace, and prosperity of our country remains unchangeable and whatever position I find myself I will continue to pursue those ideas”, Abe added.
Also responding to Abe’s remarks, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi said: “I addressed my supporters to go home and prepare for congresses, I didn’t give them any date and time, and those are the responsibility of the national secretariat.
“Senator Magnus Abe has no reason to be afraid of congress; he should tell his supporters to also prepare for congresses of the party in the state since he says he is very popular. A popular politician should be very happy anytime congress is on the table,” Amaechi declared.
