The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Rivers State, Magnus Abe, has called on politicians in the state, to allow the people of the state to choose who becomes their governor in 2023.
According to him, going by the new rules guiding elections in Nigeria, there will be no middlemen during the 2023 general elections as candidates must talk to voters one on one.
Abe spoke in Port Harcourt, the state capital at an event to receive members of the Nigeria Ethnic Forum (NEF), a forum of all ethnic groups in Nigeria living in Rivers State, who declared support for his candidature.
He said: “Today, I went to Church to pray to God for Him to make this forthcoming election peaceful; no gunshot shall be heard in Rivers State. I told God that I will not buy knife neither will I buy pay-knife. I will not buy guns, I will not send anybody to go and beat up anybody. I will not tear anybody’s poster and I will not disturb anybody.
“Let us give room to Rivers people to choose whoever they want; let us give them room to appoint whoever they want. Whoever they choose, let all of us join hands with that person to build Rivers State, so that the state will grow.
“No one is bigger than the other person. What causes problems during election is when people think that they have right more than you. They believe that whoever they choose should be accepted by all. Let all of us realize that it is God that gives power.
“Under this democracy, the president has one vote, governor has one vote, senator has one vote, driver has one vote, gardener has one vote, market woman has one vote.
“In as much as the senator want people to respect his own vote, let the senator also respect the vote of the cameraman. Don’t spoil his vote, so that he can say his mind”.
Abe stated that the removal of middlemen in election by the new Electoral Act, led to the formation of the Project SMA 2023, in order to reach out to voters on one-on-one basis.
“I have said it, that in this election, there is no middleman. Now, if a law has been passed that every vote must count, it means there is no more middleman. The middleman will leave the road and the candidate will talk to the voter man to man.
“That was why we launched the Project SMA 2023 because we realized that any day they remove the middleman, politicians who cannot talk to people directly will start looking for another work”.
