The Senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Magnus Ngei Abe, on Wednesday said he never wanted to return to the Senate.
This is as he declared that respect for internal democracy rather than impunity will end the raging squabbles in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State.
Abe, who made the declaration when he appeared on a live radio programme monitored in Port Harcourt, also declared that he will continue to champion the cause for the enthronement of internal democracy within the ranks of the ruling APC even as he pledged his unalloyed commitment to the party.
The senator maintained that his resolve is anchored on the fact that they left the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) because of impunity and high-handedness and would not allow the same character to permeate the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said: “You know this was the same struggle that took us out of the PDP, it was the same struggle for internal democracy, for the respect of human rights. Respect for the citizens, respect for constitution, respect for due process rather than impunity.
“That’s what made us to live the PDP and that’s why we’re in APC. So if we made all that effort, all that sacrifice and then we get this far and we abandon this struggle, what was it about?
“So I believe that, it is not only justified, it is necessary today, it will be necessary tomorrow and as long as there are human societies the fight to make the world better and make it function better for everybody will continue, nonstop.
“If a party is to win, everybody in the party needs to be part of that victory and when you don’t follow a process that accommodates everybody, then that’s not a victory for everybody, because a victory for one person or a victory for few people; that’s not a victory for the party.
“The victory for the party is when all members of the party are enthusiastically included in what the party is doing. When all members of the party feel a sense of victory when the party wins; if you initiate a process in the party that exclude party members and then you claim victory at the end of the day; how are they going to be excited by that victory? How are they included in it? How are they allowed to contribute to it?
“That’s what the struggle is about. It’s about all of us, is about you, is about Rivers State, is about Nigeria. How do we make this country better? How do we make it more inclusive? We do that simply by following the rules.
“You know, when we talk of the supremacy of the party, we’re not talking about the supremacy of any individual in the party. Is not the supremacy of the party chairman; it’s not the supremacy of the party leader. It’s supremacy of the party constitution; is the supremacy of the understanding that brought everybody together, because people left their houses and are making sacrifices in pursuit of a dream.
“So you don’t kill their own dreams and then say that the party has won. How will the party win without People?”
Speaking further, Senator said: “I am a committed member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and I came into this party because I believe that a better Nigeria is possible and this party is committed to the idea of building a better Nigeria. I mean the APC to fight for a better Nigeria.
“And I will continue to do that no matter what happens, no matter how it happens. The idea that black people can actually run a society based on rules that work for the majority of the people is an ideal for which people should be prepared to suffer whatever inconvenience that will bring it to fruition.
“And I want to assure you that in our lifetime we will create a society that will work for the majority of people in this country.”
Abe, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on FERMA, stated that he never had plans to return to the Senate in 2019, adding that he has a flourishing career in politics.
The senator said: “I never wanted to return to the Senate. No, I didn’t want to return to the Senate. If this was about me returning to the Senate, I have every opportunity to return to the Senate.
“I have a career in politics and I still have it. The Senate is not a career. I have a very promising career in politics. Politics is about people. And I’m surrounded by people. I have the support of my people. So I still have my career. You know, whatever you see is based on things that happen.
“You have to have the resilience. You have to have the commitment. You have to have faith in what you are doing. And what I’m doing is not about me. If it was about me, what am I looking for?
“You know, it’s about the dream that we can build a better Nigeria. It’s about the vision that Rivers State can be better than it is. We can do better. So when people keep personalizing something, oh, you are losing your seat. Oh, you’re not going to the Senate. I’m not the only person who didn’t go to the Senate. I didn’t even want to go to the Senate. I wanted to be governor of Rivers State.”
He said, recent publication against his person on the social media accusing him of an alleged assassination plot is false and does not have anything to do with him, saying one Chief Chukwuemeka Eze is only playing a game which he (Abe) is not prepared to dignify with a response.
Abe said: “Why should I be angry about this and go into any kind of argument with Eze? I know the game he is playing and he is not a threat to me, and by politics. The last thing I want is for anybody to associate me with what I will consider to be stupidity; because, first of all, Augustine, his name is known, his identity is known, if he calls you and have a discussion with you and you have your own perception of what you think he said and you feel threatened by it, you take it to the police.
“They had a discussion and nobody threatened him but if he feels that, they are both adults. How does that involve Senator Abe? So what Eze is trying to do is to demarket me.”
