I Was Not Prepared To Go To War With Wike – Magnus Abe Speaks On Rivers State Election

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate in Rivers State, Magnus Abe has claimed that the State Governor, Nyesom Wike, is trying to carry out a smear campaign against him and ruin his political career.

Abe made the assertion during an interview with Arise Television’s Morning Show on Thursday.

According to him, Wike failed to provide security for the electorates during the recent Governorship and State House of Assembly elections.

Abe, who noted that he was not prepared to go to war with Wike, explained that he prepared for an election according to the requirements of the constitution and not for war.

According to him, “Now, when you talk about being serious, yes, I was not prepared for war, so if he [Wike] says I was not prepared, I was not prepared for war. But in a serious election, people are allowed to come out and vote, so we did not prepare for war, we prepared for elections. It is the responsibility of the government to have provided an environment in which Rivers people can vote and now that did not happen.

“Now, what the governor is trying to do for some reasons and I want Nigerians to look into it, all through the elections, he was not attacking Senator Abe. Now that the elections are over, all of a sudden, Senator Abe is his prime target, trying to discredit me and my aspirations.”

Speaking further, he said, “Now let me say this, he is an Ikwerre man. The thing he is fighting for at the national level is that a Fulani man should not succeed another Fulani man, but in Rivers State, he is an Ikwerre man. He had his own ambition to succeed his brother Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is also from Ikwerre. He came out and pursued that ambition without reservation.

“People died for him to achieve that. He did not say his ambition was unserious, but I am an Ogoni man. In the entire history of Rivers State, no Ogoni man has ever had the opportunity to even contest in a major political party and I decided to contest.

“I have no apologies to offer to anybody. I am eminently qualified. Rivers people knew who won the election. They knew who also did not win the election. () So whatever the governor wants to say, he is free to say it. But I want to say here to the entire world that my name is Senator Magnus Abe.”