From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Former senator and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Rivers State, Magnus Abe, said he has not yet decided to run for governor in the 2023 general election, saying that he was still consulting.
This was even as Rivers State students, under the aegis of Progressive Students Network, have called on the former federal lawmaker to run for the governorship position in 2023, assuring him of support from the student community.
Senator Abe, who described the student community as the most boisterous, urged the students to participate ìn the next election, as politics was what determines every sphere of human endeavour.
‘The future belongs to you and if you sit down when the future is being decided, then, you don’t have any right to stand up and make demands tomorrow,’ he said.
‘You are not too young to participate in the electoral process and determine who should be elected.
‘I have not yet declared to run for governor in 2023. I am still consulting. And that’s why I am consulting with you now. I don’t need to consult only with the big people. I must also consult with the youths and students.
‘I am elated that you are urging me to run and I am also elated that you are assuring me that you will give me the support when the time comes.’
Earlier, the Rivers State Coordinator of Progressive Students Network, Mr. Endwell Otonnah, said the call on Senator Abe to run for the office of the governor in 2023, was imperative because he has been a student-friendly leader.
Otonnah recalled that Senator Abe was instrumental in the payment of students’ bursary in the state and has also awarded numerous scholarships to Rivers students.
‘Our principal (Senator Abe) was behind the payment of students bursary in the last dispensation. He has supported many students in the Faculty of Law at Rivers State University,’ he stated.
‘We have come to the conclusion that the only person that can stand for students and ensure students receive their bursary is no other person than Senator Magnus Ngei Abe.
‘Please, sir, present yourself as governorship candidate in 2023 and be assured that you will have the support of Rivers State students because we know that, if you become governor, we will not be begging for bursary again in this state.
‘Be assured that we, as the student community, will give you the needed support when you present yourself as governorship candidate in 2023 because we know you will remember us. We will not fail you.’
The youth leader of the Abe APC faction, Kingsley Igbanichuka, urged the students to take the message and spread it to their friends and families.
The highlight of the event was the inauguration of Operation 10,000 Students for Senator Magnus Abe, who would, in turn, bring 10,000 persons each, making 100,000 block votes from the student community who will vote for Abe in 2023.