The Rivers State Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Senator Magnus Abe, has formally announced his return to the All Progressives Congress.
Abe dumped the APC for the SDP ahead of the 2023 election, where he secured the party’s ticket to contest the governorship election.
But while speaking to newsmen shortly after a meeting with stakeholders in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, he said he had dumped the SDP for his former party.
He explained that his decision is to join other ‘well-meaning Nigerians’ to support the President Bola Tinubu-led administration and to ensure that Rivers people benefit from the development at the centre.
He stated, “The new year offers a lot of opportunities and hopes for all Nigerians and indeed all Rivers people. My message has been consistent: we all need to come together and work together to be able to harvest these expectations for our people.
“So basically, I called my people here today to intimidate them about some of the ongoing issues and also to let them know that we are returning to the All Progressives Congress to join other well-meaning Nigerians to support the government of President Bola Tinubu. And to do our own best to also make sure that Rivers people are able to be part of the development at the centre and to also carry the state along in what we are doing.”
Abe added that he and his team members were not back at the party because of any individual.
“We are in the APC because we are founding members of this party and we are grassroots supporters of the President. It is proper that we are in the party to continue to give that full support to the president’s developmental agenda,” he explained.
Asked how he intends to work with those he allegedly fell out with when he dumped the APC to pursue his governorship ambition, Abe said he was ready to work with others to ensure prosperity for the Rivers people.
He added, “My coming to the APC is to work together with other members of the party to ensure growth, inclusion, prosperity, and progress for Rivers State and Rivers people.
“If we all have the same mind, we will be party to achieving that. So, I think that this is a new year, and everybody who wants the APC to move forward in Rivers State needs to realise that the APC cannot be the personal estate of anybody.
“We are all very strong characters. There are none of those people—I, Rotimi Amaechi, Nyesom Wike and Tony Okocha are walking over. But you will also agree that if all of us must come together, there should not be any other force in Rivers State that can stop us.
“So, I believe that if we can find a common ground, which we have all found in the APC, there is definitely a space for everybody.”
The former lawmaker also weighed in on the crisis that rocked the state as well as the defection of the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from the PDP to the APC following a rift between Fubara and his predecessor, Wike.
Abe called for peace, saying even though it was agreed that the lawmakers remained in the APC temporarily, some ‘outside forces’ were contesting the defection in court.
He said, “The position of the lawmakers is being contested from different angles. Their former party, the PDP, is contesting the position. The governor had agreed that they could stay in the APC at the present time.
“In terms of the agreement, I think their position is secured for now, but there are some outside forces who are not party to this agreement who will still contest that fact based on the constitutional provisions.
“This is not over yet. What we need in the state is peace, and everybody has something they can do to contribute to giving us peace in the state,” he said.
Meanwhile, the State APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, Chief Tony Okocha, said Abe is welcome to the party, describing him as a founding member of the party.
Okocha said this while answering questions from newsmen shortly after he visited the New Generation Vision Orphanage in Elelenwo, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, and the Home for the Elderly in Port Harcourt, where he distributed items, including bags of rice, cartons of noodles, toiletries, and cash donations.
He said, “In politics, the more, the merrier. I listened to one of his (Abe’s) conversations on air about how he intends to return to the APC. We can’t stop him.