From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Former Rovers South East senator Magnus Abe has said that he is still part of the political family of All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, though he has left the party.
Abe stated this while speaking on a television programme on Wednesday in Abuja, maintaining that he left APC in order to seek his political fortunes elsewhere.
The senator insisted that, although he has resigned his membership of the party, the purported letter of resignation circulating online did not originate with him.
Related: Magnus Abe resigns APC membership
“I have since left the APC in Rivers State but the letter circulating round is not from me. I am still part of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s family and have no issue with him whatsoever,” he said.
“I am a part of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political family and I’m also part of his own family, and that is a very separate thing, from the politics of Rivers State.
“Yesterday, there were some funny letters circulating on the internet, that I have resigned from the APC because Asiwaju refused to intervene in the politics of Rivers State. That is ridiculous, all politics is local, I have no interest whatsoever in the APC in Rivers State.
“When people talk about resignation, how do I resign from the party I don’t even know who the ward chairman is. So, I couldn’t have written a letter to people that I don’t know. What I know from the constitution of the APC, and the constitution of the country is that there are several means by which you leave the party, and one of the means by way of resignation. So, resignation is just one of the ways that are available for members to leave the party.
“You can leave by resignation, you can leave by death, you can withdraw your membership, you can join another political party, the way the APC is sinking in Rivers State it makes no sense for any politician that has a serious political interest in the state to remain in the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State.
“I have no stake in the APC in Rivers State. I don’t know anybody that is in the entire executive of the APC in all the 319 wards in the state. I don’t even know who my ward chairman is, I don’t know any ward ex-officio officer of the party, I don’t have anybody who is running for any office in the APC in Rivers State that I know, except Asiwaju who is running for President.
“I have absolutely no stake in the party in Rivers State and all politics at the end of the day is local. And so, it will be irresponsible of me to stay in the APC in Rivers State and support a party in which I have no stake in their victory.
“So, it is clear to everybody who is watching the politics of this country that my future in the politics of Rivers State is not tied to the All Progressives Congress and so it is clear that I’m no longer a member of the APC in Rivers State as far as that goes, but the purported letter flying around wasn’t authored by me and I know absolutely nothing about it and it does not reflect my views and my opinions as far as the politics of Rivers state is concerned.
“I have said in the coming days, a lot of things will unfold but the issue of me and the APC in Rivers State I think that was decided a long time ago.
“So, I don’t know why people are still speculating and writing letters on an issue that I have made public a long time ago that I’m not part of the APC as far as Rivers State is concerned.
On the issue of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu presidency, Senator Abe opined that most Nigerians are looking for assurances as to what the future portends.
“Nigerians are looking for assurances as to what the future portends as it concerns Asiwaju presidency because whether we like it or not, a lot of families are going through a difficult crisis at this time.
“I don’t think the biggest concern in any family now is the church that Shettima attends. I think what people want to hear about everywhere now are issues of what is going to happen to security.
“What is going to happen to the economy, how is this going to affects their life, and the lives of their children, those things are the critical issues?
“I don’t think the issue of the Vice President being a Christian or a Muslim is the most important issue that Nigerians are facing at this time. After all the current Vice President is a Christian. if that were to be the most important thing for most people then we shouldn’t be complaining right now.
“I understand that there are a lot of people who may be feeling shortchanged or disturbed or even worried by the level of rhetorics that is going on around this issue.
“I think that the responsibility of those who believe in the presidency of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu is to reassure them and explain to them how this presidency will tie into their own goals and aspirations for the future and I think that is what is critical to those who want to support Asiwaju in this country.”