… Says, 2023 cannot be like 2019
Former representative of the Rivers South-East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, has said majority of Nigerians want Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu to become Nigeria’s next president due to his track record of performance.
Abe, who stated this while speaking during a breakfast meeting with journalists in Port Harcourt, also said Tinubu is eminently and constitutionally qualified to vie for the office of the president.
The Senator said: “I say this with all sincerity that Ahmed Bola Tinubu, leader of the All Progressives Congress is a Nigerian. He is eminently qualified to vie for the office of the president constitutionally and he has a track record of performance as far as I know.
“If you look at Lagos and what it is today, whether you like Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu or not, you will not discuss what Lagos is today without discussing Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu. It is not just possible.”
He described the former Lagos State Governor as one of the few leaders in Africa who put competence and capability above loyalty in picking people that work with him.
According to him, “The most important job as a leader, which is to pick people because a leader does not do everything alone. If you look at the quality of people that Asiwaju picks and the way he promotes people in everything, one thing that keeps Africa as it is now is that our leaders prefer loyalty above competence and capability.
“Asiwaju is one of the few leaders in Africa who put capacity and competence above loyalty and promote excellence in every way. I think he is eminently qualified. Other people are also free to indicate interest in the Presidency just as Asiwaju has indicated.
“At this time, Nigeria will not want anybody who does not like money to come near the Presidency. Of all the people that have participated in the leadership of this country in recent times, Asiwaju is the only person that have shown that he understands money.”
Responding to questions about revalidation of his membership ad that of his supporters, Abe who is also the Mene Suanu 1, of Ogoniland insisted that he is not just a registered member, but one of the leaders of APC in the country.
He said: “I am a member, a registered member of the All Progressives Congress. In fact, I am not just a member, I am one of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress in Nigeria.
“We did not take part in the revalidation exercise doesn’t mean that we are not members of the party and the National Secretariat is aware of that and as you all would remember, the party did sent a committee here and when they arrived they agreed that the process will continue and even issued a statement that those who have not done revalidation can take part in the congresses that took place”.
“Our membership of the party is not a question at all. Revalidation is a process. We are registered members of the All Progressives Congress”.
He also averred that he will consult widely on his ambition to govern Rivers State in 2023, before taking a decision but emphasized that 2023 will not be like 2015 and 2019.
“2023 is going to be a different year altogether and any smart APC member knows that we have to do something differently in order for this party to produce a different result away from the failures that we have produced in all other exercises”.
“It’s only a fool that will do something the same way. You do something the first time your result is failure, the second time, you use thesame rhetoric, thesame approach and your result is failure, then you come the third time and your coming with exactly the same style and rhetoric, nobody need to predict what the outcome would be and I think that members of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State understands that we simply cannot do things that way and if we do things that way, we are going to fail. That’s just reality.
Abe frowned at the leadership style of Rivers APC stating that “when they say you’re the leader, it does not mean that you’re the only person who have sense or the only person who can see. All the people that are with you also have sense, they too can talk, so a good leader’s biggest assignment or responsibility is to try to tap into as many heads as possible to try to get the best solution to whatever challenges that we face. And that’s what is lacking in the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State.
“In this case, we are dealing from only one head and it’s clear to everybody that, that head does not have the solution to the challenges the party is facing.
We need to explore what is in other heads of other people within the party. This party has competent people who can get us out of whatever challenges we face and put this party together but they are not allowed to do that”.
“It’s only in APC in Rivers State that when things go wrong, the leader is not to blamed but the followers “.
He used the medium to thanked the National Union of Rivers State Students for the award of excellence conferred on him and His Royal Highness, Mene Kadilo Kabari also, for the chieftaincy title of, ‘Mene Naale nu’ conferred on him by the people of Barako community in Gokana Local Government of Rivers state.
He said that both awards will spur him to do more to Nigerians irrespective of tribe or religion.
