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  • Rivers panel indicts Abe, supporters for secretariat’s destruction

    THE fact-finding committee into last Friday’s destruction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat in Rivers State have submitted its report.

    Thugs were said to have vandalised the secretariat on Forces Avenue, old Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt.

    Senator Magnus Abe (Rivers Southeast) and his supporters were found culpable by the three-man committee.

    Committee Chairman Forgiven Amachree, a lawyer, with members: Chief Emeka Beke, Rivers’ Secretary of APC, who served as secretary, and Pastor Mason West, yesterday in Port Harcourt, submitted the report to Rivers APC Chairman Chief Davies Ikanya.

    Ikanya wept while receiving the report.

    Abe, yesterday in Port Harcourt, through his spokesperson, Parry Benson, insisted that he never mobilised people to vandalise the secretariat.

    Amachree said: “The indictment of Senator Abe and his supporters is based on the careful study of events during the occupation of the Rivers State secretariat by party members loyal to the senator and confession made by some of Senator Abe’s supporters in police custody.

    ‘’It is foolhardy to deny the fact that Senator Abe’s supporters vandalised the secretariat, as an attempt to derail internal democracy and disrupt the ward congresses of the APC, as their actions suggested that they did not want the congresses to hold.

    “Senator Abe’s statement that he shared the same view with the people that gathered at the Rivers State secretariat of APC, gave strength to the committee’s findings.

    “The threatening and instigating utterances of the Deputy Chairman of APC in Rivers State, Prince Peter Odike, and the party’s Youth leader, Dima Agiobu, while addressing Senator Abe’s supporters last Friday, prepared the ground for the unfortunate vandalisation of the state secretariat.”

    Rivers APC chairman, after receiving the report, described as unfortunate, condemnable and unacceptable, the destruction of property at the secretariat by APC members loyal to Abe.

    Ikanya noted with sadness that some members of APC in Rivers, for no justifiable reason, vandalised the secretariat in such a manner that the State working Committee (SWC) of Rivers had to operate under a canopy at the secretariat.

    He said the SWC set up the committee to ascertain the damage, suggest ways to prevent a recurrence, and to assist security agencies to know those behind the act.

    Ikanya said: “If there was no ward congress in Rivers State last Saturday, as Senator Abe and some supporters are claiming, what was Prince Peter Odike (Deputy Chairman of APC in Rivers State) doing at his ward last Saturday to warrant Senator Abe to have stated: ‘I was ashamed when I heard that the Rivers Deputy Chairman of the APC, Prince Peter Odike, who is loyal to me, was embarrassed and chased out of the congress venue in his ward’?

    “There was ward congress in Rivers State last Saturday. It is ridiculous for any member of APC in Rivers State to state otherwise. With facts available, it becomes mischievous and wicked for any party member to continue to portray APC in badlight.

    “I cannot understand how and why people, who have sacrificed so much in building the party, would resort to acts capable of derailing and sabotaging the ideals and vision of the party in Rivers State, just because of the struggle for power.

    “Politics is not a do-or-die venture, but a means through which politicians will submit themselves for service to humanity and not a means to disparage or destroy themselves and their property.”

    Ikanya warned that APC members who continued to present the party in bad light before the public, would cease to be members of APC in Rivers.

    He urged members who will participate in the local government congress on Saturday to conduct themselves peacefully to demonstrate to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that they are always orderly and law-abiding.

     

    Senator: my hands are clean

    Senator Magnus Abe (Rivers Southeast) yesterday denied destroying the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat in Rivers State.

    He added that Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi ought to ensure a level-playing field for all aspirants.

    Abe, a governorship aspirant on APC’s platform, noted that his disagreement with Amaechi, a former governor, was political.

    The former Secretary to the State Government in Amaechi’s administration, in a statement by his spokesperson, Parry Benson, stressed that the minister earlier declared that he (Amaechi) would not support his (Abe’s) governorship aspiration.

    The senator said: “I am amused by some of these allegations and stories. For the records, the disagreement between me and the minister (Amaechi) is political. He is the leader of the party, but he has said publicly, on several occasions, that he can never support me.

    “That means the country knows that he cannot pretend to be neutral or an unbiased umpire in any matter in which my interest and the interests of those interested in me are concerned.

    ‘’Yet, as the leader, it is his responsibility to provide a level-playing field for us all.”

    Abe, an ex-commissioner for Information, insisted that the people that converged on the APC’s state secretariat on Forces Avenue, old Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt, last Friday, were not thugs, but members and supporters of the party.

    He said: “The people he (Amaechi) referred to as thugs and hoodlums were the same people that were his heroes yesterday. They were the people we used to block the Rivers State Judiciary (in Port Harcourt) when his government was threatened. They were the people that slept for many days outside the Rivers State House of Assembly to protect his government.

    “A lot of them were members of Save Rivers Movement, who risked their lives and gave their all to birth the APC in this state.

    ‘’He knows a lot of them by name, but today they are thugs and hoodlums, because he is now the oppressor.

    “We are politicians. Tomorrow, when we need voters, who will these people now branded as thugs be? People paid for forms, they had their tellers and no one was telling them what was going on. They besieged the state secretariat for explanations.

    “Rather than the leader (Amaechi) to come and address the people, they brought armed policemen to open fire on innocent party men and women. The attack led to the pandemonium at the secretariat.”

    “The people were there (at Rivers APC secretariat in Port Harcourt last Friday) from morning and there was no violence, until the policemen came and opened fire on APC members who were totally peaceful. Who authorised the shooting and why?”

     

     

     

  • Abe ‘mobilised thugs to vandalise Rivers APC secretariat’

    THE Deputy National Secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Victor Giadom, has accused Senator Magnus Abe of mobilising thugs to vandalise APC’s secretariat in Port Harcourt Rivers State capital.

    Giadom, also from Bera-Ogoni like Abe, insisted that the zoning arrangement in 2015 was  based on upland/riverine to ensure fairness, equity and justice, and not on senatorial district.

    Abe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), accused Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, an ex-governor, of mobilising miscreants to vandalise the office complex last Friday.

    The former secretary to the state government (SSG) in Amaechi’s administration earlier stated that in 2015, the governorship was zoned to his Rivers Southeast, which he insisted had not changed.

    Amaechi, who is leader of APC in Rivers and Southsouth, and the state’s deputy leader of APC, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, in interviews at the weekend, accused Abe of bringing thugs to the secretariat.

    Contrary to claims by Abe that there was no ward congress on Saturday in Rivers, the deputy national secretary insisted there was election on Saturday, even in the senator’s ward in Bera-Ogoni.

    Giadom said: “Amaechi is insisting on internal democracy in Rivers APC, but Abe is always talking of undemocratic consensus candidature, without congresses/elections.

    ‘’The action of the hoodlums that vandalised Rivers State secretariat of APC in Port Harcourt was unnecessary, highly regrettable and it was the height of desperation by Abe and his supporters.

    ‘’We are all from Rivers State and we know the thugs who were at APC secretariat last Friday.

    ‘’The representative of Ikwerre/Emohua in the House of Representatives,  Chidi Wihioka, who was arrested on the scene of the destruction, is also a supporter of Abe.

    “The panel that was sent to Rivers State to conduct the ward congress was inaugurated on Thursday at the national secretariat of APC in Abuja.

    ‘’Materials were given to members of the panel late on Thursday and they got to Port Harcourt between 3 pm and 4 pm on Friday.

    ‘’Quite unfortunately, on Friday morning, thugs invaded APC secretariat in Port Harcourt, accusing Transportation Minister of hijacking non-existent materials.

    “Since the secretariat had been vandalised and there was no place for the panel to operate, holding stakeholders’ meeting on Friday was not possible.

    ‘’No material was hijacked. Materials were sent to the 319 wards, including Abe’s ward, which incidentally is also my ward.

    ‘’I was in Bera (his village) on Saturday and the ward congress was peacefully and orderly conducted, just as it happened in all 23 LGAs.

    “Abe should produce the video or audio clip of where it was decided in 2014 or 2015 that the governorship of APC was zoned to Rivers Southeast. There was nothing like that.

    ‘’I want the governorship to be given to us in the Rivers Southeast, but it was not zoned to us during the last general election by APC.

    ‘’Rivers State is known for upland/riverine dichotomy. Amaechi is the leader of APC in Rivers State and he has done everything to put the party together, but when someone (Abe) has an uncontrolled ambition, it is difficult to have the person under the same roof.”

    The deputy national secretary promised there will be a level-playing field for aspirants.

    Giadom gave insight into the disagreement between him and Abe.

    He said: “Politics and ambition separated Abe and I. We used to be best of friends and political associates. We are both from Bera-Ogoni in Gokana LGA.

    ‘’Dr. Dakuku Peterside was chosen by APC to be the governorship candidate  for 2015 election.

    ‘’Abe, my brother and friend, was not happy with the decision. I was then Rivers commissioner for Works in the administration of Governor Amaechi.

    ‘’When the decision on Dr. Peterside was taken, many of us were worried and unhappy, but as politicians, we must pursue the interest of the party and we must move on.

    “By the grace of God, I was appointed director-general of Peterside’s campaign organisation. Abe felt I should not take the responsibility, to show that we were not happy with Amaechi, but I said such decision was selfish, unnecessary and parochial.

    ‘’I told him in his house on a Sunday that I would accept the appointment, because Abe had agreed to return to the Senate on APC’s platform. That started the disagreement between Abe and I.”

    Giadom  expressed optimism that APC will bring credible leadership to Rivers in 2019, stressing that he has no governorship or deputy governorship ambition.

  • Abe, supporters lose out as Abuja panel collates results

    SENATOR Magnus Abe (Rivers Southeast), Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) Deputy Chairman Chief Peter Odike and their supporters yesterday lost out of the state’s ward congress.

    Chairman of Ward and Local Government Congresses Committee for Rivers State Joseph Dogo, who came from the APC  National Secretariat in Abuja, along with members of his team, confirmed that the congresses took place on Saturday in the state’s 319 wards.

    Dogo spoke last night in an interview with reporters at the state’s APC secretariat on Forces Avenue, Old Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt, after collating the results.

    Abe, who is also a governorship aspirant on the platform of APC for the 2019 election, on Saturday evening in Port Harcourt, in an online statement by his spokesperson, Parry Benson, however, claimed that there was no ward congress of the APC in the 23 councils of Rivers State.

    The former Secretary to the Rivers State Government stated that there was no stakeholders’ meeting before the scheduled ward congress, as promised by the leadership of APC in Rivers.

    The senator alleged that the party leadership went against the guidelines of the ward congress by allowing contestants to pick forms on the day of the ward congress.

    Abe, Odike, and their teeming supporters across the councils, on Friday, celebrated the motion on notice in a suit filed by Felix Mboi, an ally of Abe, to stop Saturday’s ward congress.

    The APC; its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun; Rivers APC Chairman Chief Davies Ikanya; and the Secretary, Chief Emeka Beke, are defendants.

    Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, who is the leader of APC in Rivers and the Southsouth zone, and the deputy leader, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, who was the 2015 governorship candidate of the APC, however, declared in separate interviews in Port Harcourt that they were not aware of any court order or injunction retraining Rivers APC from conducting Saturday’s ward congress.

    Dogo, who was accompanied by members of his team from Abuja, Ikanya and some members of the State Working Committee (SWC), addressed reporters under a canopy within APC’s state secretariat, since thugs decided on Friday to vandalise the secretariat, destroying valuable property.

    Chairman of the congresses committee said: “So far, we have received results from the 23 LGAs in Rivers State, with total combined wards of 319. With the receipt of these results now completed, the task now is on the committee members to go through the processing of the results. So that we can hand over this report to the appeal committee, which will start sitting by tomorrow (today). The appeal committee will look into any appeal coming out of the exercise that was conducted.

    “There was election (ward congress in Rivers State). I do not know whether there is a contradiction between an allegation (by Abe and his supporters) and a fact. If there is an allegation and there is a fact, I do not know how contradictory it is. From the report that was documented, including the one from the Distinguished Senator’s (Abe’s) ward (in Bera-Ogoni in Gokana LGA), we will make available to the press, documented evidence that even in his (Abe’s) ward, there was election.

    “So, the issue of a contradiction does not even arise, because you cannot be talking about contradiction, when there is an allegation and a fact. He (Abe) has to prove that there was no election in Rivers State on Saturday. He who alleges must prove.”

    Dogo stated that he and members of the committee put in their best in the discharge of their duties, without taking sides, as people of integrity.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Rivers: Amaechi, Peterside floor Abe, Odike, supporters

    The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, yesterday floored the lawmaker representing Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Abe; the Deputy Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Peter Odike; and their supporters.

    Odike, Abe and their teeming supporters across the 23 local government areas of Rivers State, on Friday, celebrated the motion on notice, in a suit filed by Felix Mboi, an ally of Abe, to stop yesterday’s ward congress of the APC in Rivers, with APC; the National Chairman of the ruling party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun; Rivers Chairman of the APC, Chief Davies Ikanya; and the state Secretary of the party, Chief Emeka Beke, as defendants.

    Amaechi, who is the leader of APC in Rivers and the Southsouth zone, and Peterside, the deputy leader of the party in the state, who was the 2015 governorship candidate of the APC, however declared in separate interviews in Port Harcourt that they were not aware of any court order or injunction retraining Rivers APC from conducting yesterday’s ward congress.

    Our reporter who monitored the ward congress in Port Harcourt and some parts of Rivers confirmed that the election (ward congress), using Option A-4, took place peacefully and orderly across the 319 wards in the state, with impressive turnout of members.

    Abe, yesterday evening in Port Harcourt, in an online statement by his Spokesperson, Parry Benson, however, claimed that there was no ward congress of the APC in the 23 LGAs of Rivers State yesterday.

    He also stated that there was no stakeholders’ meeting before the scheduled ward congress, as promised by the leadership of APC in Rivers.

  • Amaechi, Abe in verbal war as protest hits Rivers APC sale of congress form

    TRANSPORTATION Minister Rotimi Amaechi and his estranged ally, Senator Magnus Abe (Rivers South), were last night locked in a fresh stand off after irate youths vandalized the Rivers State secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Port Harcourt, ahead of today’s ward congresses of the party. The youths believed to be sympathetic to Abe,an APC governorship aspirant, accused Amaechi and state party chair,Chief Davies Ikanya, of plotting to impose candidates during the congresses. They accused the officials of refusing to paste the list for the congresses in the 392 wards in the state. The process was expected to begin yesterday with the release of the party members lists, and sale of nomination forms to aspirants. Amaechi is the leader of the APC in the state.

    The youths smashed the doors, windows and computers in the office located on Forces Avenue. Amaechi accused Abe of engineering the action of the youths because, as he said, the senator wanted a consensus candidate. He vowed that this would never happen. He denied hijacking electoral materials for the ward congress, as alleged by Abe and his supporters. The minister also said he was not aware of any court order stopping the ward congress. Amaechi was also irked by a statement credited to Governor Nyesom Wike in which he sympathized with the APC on the death of some APC members during yesterday’s attack on the party’s secretariat. The minister said no one died during the attack. He said: “A lot of people are complaining about internal democracy in the APC. So, why are they running away from internal democracy? Let’s go and queue up behind the candidates we want. “As early as 6 a.m. today (yesterday), I gathered that thugs had taken over the Rivers State secretariat of APC (opposite old Government Reservation Area Divisional Police Headquarters). In view of the noise, policemen found it difficult to take action, in spite of their being invited to protect the property by the leadership of Rivers APC.

    “The party (Rivers APC) needed to sell forms to anybody who was interested. What the governorship aspirant (Abe) wanted to do was that there should be no congress. He (Abe) took over the entire secretariat (of Rivers APC) with thugs. At 3 p.m., policemen had to force themselves in, to be able to sell forms and for people to be able to purchase forms for tomorrow’s (today’s) ward congress. “If that candidate (Abe) is popular, why didn’t he ask his supporters to buy forms, go and compete at the wards? I am grateful that people bought forms and I hope that his (Abe’s) supporters also bought forms. By tomorrow (today), there will be congress. I do not carry thugs about.” “There are no materials for the ward congress. It is just for people to buy forms and contest the election.

    They will go to the bank, pay, get tellers and buy the forms. People will queue up tomorrow (today), supervised by officers from the national secretariat of APC. They will count, using Option A-4. Whoever wins becomes the chairman. The report by the committee will be written and sent to the national secretariat of APC. No materials to hijack. “If they are afraid of elections, they should say so. In Rivers State, people were accustomed to writing results of elections, without actual voting, for 16 years. It was worse in 2015. Soldiers and policemen were then used to chase people around, they would sit down and write results. We went to court and the court said writing of results was okay. We had to abide by the judgment.” Abe, in his response, stated that he was fully prepared for election, stressing that Amaechi was afraid. The Senator said: “It is Amaechi that is afraid of election. That is why he is causing all these problems. I did not mobilise thugs to Rivers State secretariat of APC. The people at APC’s secretariat were Amaechi’s miscreants. I am a man of integrity.

    “I am fully prepared for election. That is why I declared my intention to contest on April 24, 2018, with all inauguration of Freedom House (his campaign office in new GRA, Port Harcourt).” Abe asked President Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders of APC to ensure free, fair and credible congresses in the party, to ensure peace and unity. Earlier,spokesman of the party in the state, Chris Finebone, denied the allegations made by the protesters. He told reporters that the delay in the sale of the forms was caused by the non-arrival of the officials sent from the APC national secretariat to supervise the exercise.

    He assured stakeholders, including party members, supporters, aspirants and the public of transparent, peaceful and credible exercise. He promised that the sale of the forms would begin once the officials came. He dismissed as false,suggestions that the forms had been diverted. “I can say it again and again that everybody will be given a level playing ground participate and the process will be transparent, free, fair, credible and peaceful, I can assure,” Finebone said. But the youths soon lost their patience after the process failed to take off as promised by Finebone. They broke into the building and helped themselves to whatever they could lay their hands on. Men of the Special Anti-ribbery Squad (SARS) soon intervened ,firing canisters of tear gas into the unruly protesters. Efforts to reach the spokesman of the state police command, Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police failed.

  • Ex-military governor, Abe back President

    FORMER Plateau State Military Governor Maj.-Gen. Aliyu Kama (retd) and Senator Magnus Abe (River Southeast) have declared support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s second time bid.

    Maj.-Gen. Aliyu Kama urged those trying to contest against Buhari in 2019 to wait till 2023.

    He was apparently referring to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor Kingsley Moghalu among others.

    According to him, it would be unwise for anyone, irrespective of their inclinations, to want to contest against Buhari.

    The ex-governor under the regime of former Military President Ibrahim Babangida spoke on Saturday in Abuja at the Hoba Community Grand Reception for the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha by the Hoba Elders Council.

    He also said the Hoba people of Adamawa State were grateful to Buhari for appointing two sons of the community as SGF successively and pledged continuous support for the Buhari administration.

    Mustapha, at the occasion, promised to conduct himself creditably in office and that he would work hard to ensure that at the end of his service, his people would be proud of him.

    He acknowledged the individual and collective role as well as contribution of some of the dignitaries to his political career, beginning with his nomination into the then constituent assembly in old Gongola State.

    Abe insisted that ahead of the 2019 election, there was no one to compare with Buhari’s pedigree.

    He also lauded the President for declaring to run for a second term in office next year.

    Abe, who spoke yesterday in a live television programme, said: “As far as we are concerned, the APC is all set for 2019 elections. The announcement by President Buhari means that barring the formalities that are still left – there will hopefully be a formal declaration and of course, we will have a convention to pick the President as our candidate – we now know who our candidate will be for the 2019 election.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • 2019: Abe’s men set up reconciliation panel

    Ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries in Rivers State, stakeholders loyal to  Senator Magnus Abe has set up a five-man reconciliation committee, led by Senator Wilson Ake (Rivers West, 2007-2015).

    This was part of a six-point communique read by ex-Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Chief Chibudom Nwuche, yesterday at APC’s stakeholders’ meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.

    Present at the meeting are Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Derek Mene; Senator Ake; Nwuche; the lawmaker representing Ikwerre/Emohua in the House of Representatives, Chidi Wihioka; and his counterpart in Khana/Gokana, Maurice Pronen, among other top politicians.

    Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, an ex-governor, declared that the governorship would rotate to the riverine part, since the upland had been producing governor since 1999.

    Rivers APC candidate in 2015 Dr. Dakuku Peterside, director-general of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), from coastal Opobo, is in the race, just as Abe, an Ogoni.

    Abe’s allies, after an appraisal of happenings in the APC, noted that an expanded stakeholders’ meeting resolved many topical issues.

    The communique reads: “We call on members of the APC in Rivers State to ignore those who have been deceived into leaving the party, as there will be no implosion in Rivers APC. All the leaders of the party are committed to ensuring the victory of the APC in Rivers State and in the whole country in the 2019 elections.

    “We applaud the doggedness of members of the APC in Rivers State, who have remained committed to the ideals of the party, in spite of internal bickering and external pressure and who have continued to make sacrifices for the sustenance of the party in Rivers State.

    “We enjoin members of the APC in Rivers State to return all party executives at all levels in the state during the congresses, irrespective of their factional leanings, as a reward for their sacrifices and commitment to the APC, in the face of threats, intimidation and even physical danger.

    “We commend President Muhammadu Buhari for his clear, bold and courageous stand on the constitutional issue of elected party officials. The President’s position has not only shown that the APC is a political party that respects the true tenets of internal democracy and the dictates of the law, it has also steered the party clear of prospective legal danger.

    “We urge members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC to place the interest of the party above every other consideration and respect the informed position of Mr. President to conduct congresses across all strata of the party, to bring the party in conformity with extant constitutional provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and its own constitution.”

    Abe, former secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG) in Amaechi’s administration, in his address, maintained that APC members  were on the right path and that victory in 2019 was certain.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on FERMA noted that some members defected to the PDP because of what they will eat, stressing that the solution to hunger in the state is to fight to claim the governorship in 2019 and not to beg for crumbs from Wike and his allies.

    Also speaking, Wihioka said President Buhari meant well for Nigeria and Nigerians, stating that the President should be supported to succeed.

    Speaking on behalf of the people of Rivers East, an APC chieftain, Chief Allwell Onyesoh, declared that holding congresses in the APC was the proper thing to do.

    Nwuche, speaking on behalf of Rivers West, said upland/riverine dichotomy should be jettisoned, noting that Abe will be a better governor in 2019.

    An indigene of Opobo, Mrs. Grace Sam-Jaja cautioned that APC’s foundation must not be destroyed.

  • No individual can kill Ogoni dream, says Abe

    The lawmaker representing Rivers Southeast, Senator Magnus Abe, has said no individual can kill the dream of Ogoni people.

    He assured members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Tai Local Government Area that the party will not be allowed to die.

    Abe, a former secretary to the state government (SSG), according to his spokesperson, Parry Benson, yesterday in an online statement, spoke while during a condolence visit to the family of an APC stalwart, the late Gideon Barika.

    The senator said: “More importantly, I am here to let people know that APC in Tai LGA cannot die. To tell our people that the dream of Rivers people and the dream of Ogoni people in the politics of Rivers State can also not die.

    “No individual can kill dreams. It is God that kill dreams and He is the only one who can destroy a dream. If we have a dream, our own obligation as people is to work towards what we believe and we are working towards what we believe. So, I came here to encourage the party’s members.

    “We are in politics. Anybody is free to go to anywhere he wants to go, but when you are going there, you cannot force everybody to go where you are going. Where your mind is, there you shall be found also. Where our own mind is, where we shall be found also. The mind of the people of Tai LGA is that for too long in Rivers State, we have escorted other people.

    “I am very happy to stand here today and see that the spirit of Tai is not broken. You know ‘na when something happen, na im you go know wetin fit happen; no be so’? If something no happen, you no go know wetin fit happen. And I don tell people from the beginning, this thing wey we dey do, we talkam from the beginning say anything wey other people their Mama been tell them, this time our own Mama don tell us and anything wey dem dey try, we too we go try am.

    “So, no bi fear, fear mind dem dey take waka this kind waka. Anybody wey dey fear, make him go him house go stay. Anybody wey no believe in wetin we dey do, make him go him house go stay. Those of us wey believe in wetin we dey do, wey say our time don come, wey know say for this state wey they know us, we go ask for the one wey concern us, make una come make we dey go. By the grace of God, with the help of God, forward ever, backward never.”

    Abe, who chairs the Senate Committee on FERMA, described the late Barika as a strong member of the APC, noting that as ward chairman, the deceased cogrowth of the party in Tai LGA.

    He said: “I want to thank you for coming with me this morning to mourn our son, our brother and our father, the late Gideon Barika, who passed on. He was a very strong member of the APC and his passing calls for us as member of the same political family to gather here today to mourn him.

     

  • ‘Abe has able leadership qualities’

    ‘Abe has able leadership qualities’

    The lawmaker representing Rivers Southeast, Senator Magnus Abe, has been described as a leader with unparalleled leadership qualities.

    Rivers youths and students, under the aegis of the Network of Youth and Student Leaders of Rivers State, rated the legislator high in empowerment, award of scholarships, educational grants, robust bursary scheme and unmitigated access to Rivers youths.

    Youths and students spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt in a communiqué after a dialogue and reception in his honour, signed by Kadilo Kabari, Inye Jack and Patrick Ogbuehi.

    The communiqué reads: “Of all the active principal political characters in Rivers State, Senator Abe stands head-and-shoulder above all. We shall continually give support to Senator Abe, in his efforts at offering selfless services to humanity.”

     

  • Amaechi: I won’t stop Abe in 2019

    Amaechi: I won’t stop Abe in 2019

    Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has said he won’t stop Senator Magnus Abe from running for Rivers State governor in 2019.

    Amaechi, All Progressives Congress (APC) Southsouth leader, however, said he would not support Abe, adding that power must shift to the riverine area after which  the Ogoni will take their turn.

    The ex-governor spoke at the weekend at a meeting in Port Harcourt, the capital, with Ikwerre APC Chiefs and Elders’ Forum (IACEF).

    The minister said that Abe has the right to contest, but insisted that the constitution of the party must be fully adhered to.

    “There is no fight in the APC. I am not in any way stopping Abe from running for the governorship, but what I know is that I will not support him.”

    He dismissed insinuations that the state APC is factionised, and explained that it will remain a united and viable opposition to the leading Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Amaechi, who insisted on rotation, said  it would be wrong for Ikwerre to retain power for more than 12 years.

    According to him,  the decision to back a riverine candidate in 2019 is not negotiable,  stressing that the Ogoni will get its chance after the group had taken its eight years.

    “When we finish with riverine, if Ogoni shows interest we will support them. I am not saying that Ogoni people do not have qualified persons. Before, even till date, in every field of study you must see a graduate from Ogoni even to the point of PhD.”

    On who the APC has in mind for the governorship, he said: “At the moment, we have not chosen a candidate; only God will decide who will become the next governor.”

    However, Ikwerre Elders and Chiefs pleaded with Amaechi to forgive Ikwerre sons and daughters that he helped and have turned against him.

    In his address, IACEF Chairman Chief Sunny Dikeh said they would back round Amaechi to ensure that APC regains power.

    Dikeh said: “We are aware that some Ikwerre sons and daughters have betrayed you after assisting them. We are here to say sorry and apologise on their behalf.”