The immediate past senator representing Rivers South-East senatorial district in the national assembly, Magnus Abe, has said he would meet with the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to further discussions on the acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, 45% stake in the controversial OML 11.
Abe, while speaking to Vanguard on the major cause of disagreement in the state’s chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, said his relationship with Wike began when he (Wike) was the chairman of Obio Akpor Local Government Area and him the Minority Leader of the state House of Assembly.
“It is the House of Assembly that exercises core supervisory jurisdiction by law over local governments, so we have a relationship.
“He was Chief of Staff to the Governor when I was Secretary to the Government of Rivers State. We had very close personal and family relationships, but in the course of our politics, we went into different political parties.
“We had our disagreement. In fact, we engaged in a fight to the point where we took each other publicly. All personal relationships were ruptured as we went our different ways politically. It remained that way.
“When I had my thanksgiving, the presiding Archbishop asked if I had invited all those with whom I have issues. I said no, but he insisted I invite all, including the governor and the Minister.
“As the Archbishop stressed, you cannot come to the house of God with a divided mind. So, I invited everybody including the Minister and anybody I knew I had a relationship with across the country.
“People honoured that invitation, including Governor Wike but the Minister didn’t. Instead, he chose the same day to hold a parallel event in the headquarters of my senatorial district while Wike rather chose to attend my thanksgiving.
“Since then, I have had no personal contact or relationship with the governor. But as I speak, I am ready to meet with Wike because of the broadcast he made the other day about Ogoni oil fields and Oil Mining Lease OML 11.
“I thought it was not right for any Ogoni son to respond to what the governor said publicly, for the simple reason that the dispute over shares in Ogoni oil fields did not involve us as Ogonis. It was rather between Shell, the Federal Government, oil companies and all of that.
“If the governor says Rivers State has acquired the oil fields, and that they are ready to give Ogoni people, the oil communities percentage stakes in the oil fields, I don’t think that any Ogoni should be first to condemn that.
“I will be interested in meeting with the governor to hear exactly what is happening as far as that situation is concerned.
“So I have no political relationship with the governor. Outside meeting him on social occasions, I haven’t met him anywhere. I haven’t discussed politics with him, but, now, I am ready to meet with him because I feel the issue of Ogoni oilfield is something I should be interested in as a leader in my area and would want to hear more.
“So, if he extends an invitation to me, I will honour that invitation, but, politically, I am a member of APC and Wike is of PDP. Anybody with facts other than the one I have stated should prove it before the courts and let us hear it from him”.
