Senator Magnus Abe representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District has
declared that there was no ward congress of the All Progressives Congress
(APC) in the 319 wards of the 23 Local Government Areas in Rivers State.
Abe, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt by his spokesperson, Parry
Saroh Benson, made available to NewsRangers said those who had paid and
were issued tellers were not allowed to purchase forms and participate in
the exercise.
The Senator, who is also an APC governorship aspirant in the 2019 general
election, said the leadership of the party in the state went against the
guidelines of the ward congress by refusing to allow party members to
participate in the exercise.
“We had a South-South Caucus meeting, where it was agreed that every
leader should call all leaders of the party to an all-inclusive meeting
between Thursday and Friday where all issues including how to guarantee
fairness and transparency in the exercise will be discussed and agreed
upon.
“It was further decided that party members should be briefed by the
congress committee from Abuja before the commencement of the exercise. Non
of that happened in Rivers State rather, party men and women were asked to
go to their wards and wait for the congress.
“The development is against the guidelines of the party congresses, that
purchase of nomination forms should end 24 hours before the commencement
of the congress.”
It described the development as a fight against internal democracy in the
APC and called on the national leadership of the party to intervene to
save the party’s internal democracy.
“Our worry is that some leaders of the party deliberately want to obstruct
the Ward, Local Government and State Congresses to achieve a predetermined
result. We are appealing to the National Leadership of the party to do
what is right to ensure a free, fair, peaceful and credible congress in
Rivers State.
“It is the hope and aspiration of stakeholders of our party in Rivers
State that National Executive Council (NEC) will respect the opinion of
the people of the state.”