The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Senator Magnus Abe, a former senator representing Rivers South-East at the National Assembly, of factionalising the ruling party ahead of the 2023 elections.
This was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday, by Senibo Chris Finebone, the Rivers State APC Publicity Secretary, in Port-Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State.
Prequel to Finebone’s clarification, Senator Abe, on Wednesday, announced his resignation from the APC.
Abe made this pronouncement via a statement issued through Parry Benson, his Media Aide.
In response, the Rivers State APC spokesman Finebone, berated Abe for allegedly creating division within the party, and undermining efforts towards victory ahead of the 2023 elections.
The statement noted, “It has also come to our notice that a few persons that are loyal to Senator Magnus Abe have also resigned recently. These are individuals who have, for the past couple of years, spoken and acted in every way to destroy the APC in Rivers State.
“Led by Abe, these persons tried all they could to factionalize our Party in the State. They connived endlessly with the governor of Rivers State and used some elements in the State Judiciary to frustrate and destroy our Party through needless litigations.
“The culmination of their evil machinations was the exclusion of Rivers APC from the ballot in 2019. Evidence exists how Senator Abe and his lieutenants broke into celebration the day the Party was excluded by the court from participating in that election due to their litigation.”
Furthermore, the Rivers APC detailed how Abe allegedly received support from antagonistic outsiders, who were hellbent on wrecking the party in the guise of propping the lawmaker as a governorship candidate.
Finebone explained, “After the 2019 unfortunate development, Abe continued to receive support from outside the State and persisted in undermining Rivers APC through every imaginable means principally through frivolous litigation executed through his proxies. At a time, they attacked and completely destroyed the then Rivers APC Secretariat at Forces Avenue, Old GRA, Port Harcourt. Recently, they also hired hoodlums and attempted to destroy the present Secretariat of the Party.
“Tired of Abe’s antics, the majority of his supporters openly joined the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State while others found their way back to the mainstream of the Party. However, it recently came to our attention that Senator Abe and the few persons still with him had concluded plans to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on whose platform Abe will run for governor, hence their persistent hype to the effect that Abe will be on the ballot come 2023.
“In what appears to be a carefully planned exit plan, close associates of Abe started resigning from the APC and making heavy weather of their exit on the social media as part of their exit plan as though they have been functional members of the Party, just to hoodwink the public.
“This is essentially to explain to you and the public that Rivers APC considers the formal exit of Abe and his associates from the APC as good riddance. We liken it to a successful excision of debilitating cancer from the body. Rivers APC can now heave a sigh of relief from the sustained destabilizing onslaught by Senator Abe. We wish him well as he joins the SDP.
“We make bold to state without an iota of doubt that Senator Abe and his supporters had, by their actions and utterances, long ceased to be functional members of APC.”
