Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers state have accused the Magnus Abe group of working against the interest of the party in the state.
This was contained in a statement issued on Friday by the concerned members of the ruling party, APC in Rivers state.
According to a statement, Tonte Amachree and Kelvin Obulo alleged that the group loyal to Abe, a former senator and chieftain of the party, is working with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to “pull down” the party in the state.
The former loyalists to the Abe faction claimed the plan is to ensure that the APC is excluded from the ballot in the 2023 elections.
“We are members of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State. We have been loyal and active members of the Magnus Abe group,” the statement reads.
“Last week Thursday, We were called by Bethel Oko-Jaja and Ben Horsefall who are known leaders of the Magnus Abe group in Opobo/Nkoro and Asari-Toru Local Government Areas respectively, to a meeting where we would sign an affidavit to join in the suit against the APC in Rivers State and its former Caretaker Chairman, Isaac Ogbobula.
“The meeting was held at the house of Worgu Boms, a former Attorney General of Rivers State under the administration of former Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
“The meeting had elite members of the Magnus Abe group like Golden Ben-Chioma and Worgu Boms in attendance.
“The State PDP Chairman, Ambassador Desmond Akawor was also in that meeting.
“He introduced himself and addressed us, advising the group on how to proceed.
“Desmond Akawor assured us that the State government would ensure that the case is reassigned to a judge that would do our bidding, after the former Judge, Justice Minakiri recused himself from the suit.
“Now, this is our grouse. Why would the Chairman of the opposition party be in our meeting?
“We had earlier believed that we were working to put the party back together. But with this new development, we believe otherwise.
“How can the leadership of the opposition PDP be in our midst, encouraging us and even guiding us on how to pull down our own party from the inside?
“Why would our people be conniving with the State government and the PDP to destroy our party in the guise of making things right?
“We silently walked out of that devilish meeting with the realisation that we’ve been fooled all along.
“We cannot fold our arms and allow Magnus Abe and his group to mislead us again.
“We cannot afford for our party not to be on the ballot again. We refuse to let 2019 repeat itself in 2023.’
The members called on the national leadership of the APC “to call senator Magnus Abe and his group to order, so that Rivers APC will move forward”.
Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, and Abe had clashed over control of the Rivers APC apparatus.
The tussle between the Amaechi and Abe-led factions led to the disqualification of the party from the 2019 governorship election in the state.
However, last year, Amaechi’s faction triumphed as the supreme court affirmed the sack of Igo Aguma — a loyalist of Abe — as the caretaker committee chairman of Rivers APC.