Magnus Abe, the outgoing Senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly says the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not participate in the 2019 gubernatorial election because of impunity.
Abe stressed that the APC will emerge stronger if it permits its members’ participation as an alternative of foisting candidates on them.
The Senator said he has no regrets over the lengthy legal battle which barred the party from participating in the election in the state.
According to him: “I’ve no regrets in any way for what I did. I’m very pleased with what I did and if it occurs once more, I’ll do precisely what I did and I believe the party could be stronger whether it is run based on its guidelines; based on its structure.
“If the members are dignified and revered, it makes the party stronger.
“A party candidate is what makes the party. Having candidate is not the most important in a party. Having a candidate is part of what makes the party. A political party is about ideology about making lives better. You can have candidates that do not contribute to making lives better.”
Abe said that not participating in the election was a price the party needed to pay for allowing godfather-ism to foster.
“Yes, it’s unlucky that we ended not having candidates in Rivers State, it’s the value we needed to pay in an effort to construct a celebration that respects the rule of regulation.
“We should be able to construct democracy and in doing that. People should take the bull by the horn. Let me sound a warning not simply to political events, however to dramatis personae within the events that they are going to proceed to lose elections in the event that they don’t permit their members to contribute.
“People should be allowed to contribute. Nigeria is altering and all of us should be prepared to vary.
“I nonetheless insist that loyalty to the party isn’t loyalty to the Chairman nor loyalty to the chief; it’s loyalty to the principles of the half and that’s what party supremacy means”
