A frontline governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Abe, has described as insulting, the decision of some members of the party to question his membership status in the party.
Abe, who stated this while speaking on a live radio programme, monitored in Port Harcourt, said he is a founding member of the party in the state.
He said, “I think what should interest Rivers people is for people to remember my own contributions to the birth of the All Progressives Congress here in Rivers State. There was a group called Save Rivers Movement, I don’t know if people still remember those things.
“I was the leader of Save Rivers Movement. We went around, we fought; it was a daily battle. I was a Senator at that time and I was flying in (into Port Harcourt) everyday to ensure that we gave birth to this party here in Rivers State. That was what became the All Progressives Congress of today.
“So, I am one of the founders of the party here in Rivers State. It is insulting for people to now come to say am I a member of APC? All this kind of discussions are not relevant to the future of our state.”
The APC governorship hopeful stated that it was the duty of all Nigerians to purify the political system, open up the democratic space and as much as possible, simplify the system to make it cheaper and easier for citizens to actually contribute and participate.
Abe said, “I don’t see anything extreme about what anybody is doing. There is a process by which you get into office and anybody who aspires into any office has to follow that process. When somebody is running for office, it is not about the individual alone. A lot of people who are tied to what you are doing and their actions and utterances are also part of the process.
“For those who are not part of the political system, sometimes it looks like the whole thing is vert extreme, bitter, selfish and all that. But it is the same; that is what the political process is all about. The process is a contest and every contest sometimes takes dark turns if not well coordinated.
” I think that as a country, it is our responsibility to purify the political system, open up the democratic space and as much as possible, simplify the system to make it cheaper and more accessible to everybody who intends to participate and easier for citizens to actually contribute and participate,” he added.
He said that citizens should also realise that deepening the process, opening up the process and simplifying the process is not something that should just be left for politicians alone. He noted that it is the responsibility of all because at the end of the day, “it is actually really our own country, it is actually really our own system and it is actually our own process.”
