As Abe expresses fears on the ability of the SEC to conduct credible election
Admin l Thursday, May 03, 2018
PORT HARCOURT, Rivers, Nigeria – Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has assured that the All Progressives Congress, APC, ward Congress to hold on Saturday, May 5, will be free, fair and credible. The former governor and leader of the APC in the state and the South South geo-political region, told Journalists on his arrival at the Port Harcourt International Airport, on Thursday that his decision not to support Senator Magnus Abe’s governorship ambition does not mean the congress would not be free and fair.
He stressed that he has one vote and can only vote once during the process. “That I said I would not support an aspirant does not mean other people would not vote for him. That I would not support his governorship ambition does not mean there is crisis in the party in Rivers State. The party’s ward congress will show clearly that there is internal democracy in the APC in Rivers State.We must separate personal disagreement from party disagreement. The congress will also present members of the party an opportunity to choose their leaders.”
Amaechi’s statement is coming on the heels of Senator Magnus Abe’s position in a news conference at his governorship campaign office, on Wednesday, in Port Harcourt, that he is worried that the ward, Local government and state congresses may not be free, fair and credible. Abe who had walked out of the APC stakeholders meeting with his supporters at the party’s state secretariat, on Wednesday, told journalists that he was surprised to see strange faces seated among members of the State Executive Committee, SEC.
According to the Senator representing Rivers South East Senatorial District, the inclusion of non-executive members unknown to members of the party as officials of the SEC, signify that there were subterranean efforts to skew the party’s congresses. Senator Abe at his news conference appealed to the leadership of the party to ensure that the proper thing was done in the interest of the party.
Addressing Journalists at the end of the stakeholders meeting, Rivers State Chairman of the APC, Chief Davis Ibiamu-Ikanya, warned all members of the party to conduct themselves in tandem with the party’s constitution. He declared that any member of the party caught fomenting or attempting to rig the ward Congress or falsifying the outcome will be suspended or even expelled from the party.
