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| Magnus Abe and Rotimi Amaechi (R) |
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and governorship aspirant, Senator Magnus Abe, has announced his exit from the ruling party.
Senator Magnus Abe, who represented Rivers South-East senatorial district in the National Assembly until 2019, disclosed his withdrawal of the party’s membership to newsmen on Wednesday.
Amid the crisis in the Rivers State chapter of the party, he explained that he has left the party to achieve his political ambition elsewhere.
Senator Abe has, for a long time, been at loggerheads with the immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, over the leadership of the APC in the state.
Following his exit from the party, he, however, declined to reveal what political party he intends to join.
The governorship hopeful also clarified that he did not submit a formal resignation letter to inform the party’s leadership of his exit.
He explained that according to the APC Constitution, the affiliation of any member is terminated once such an individual joins another political party.
A good number of party men, including the chairman of its reconciliatory committee, governorship aspirants, former public officeholders, local government, and ward executives, have been exiting the APC in Rivers in the past month.
There are also fears of further cracks in the party which is struggling to mend fences after the internal crisis which denied it a spot on the ballot in the last elections in the state.
Reacting to the latest development, the leadership of the APC in the state said Senator Abe’s exit did not come as a surprise to them.
The APC Publicity Secretary in Rivers, Chris Finebone, at a media briefing in Port Harcourt described the exit of the former lawmaker and his associates as “a successful excision of debilitating cancer from the body”.
He believes the APC in Rivers can now heave a sigh of relief from the ‘sustained destabilising onslaught’ allegedly by Senator Abe and his followers.
Finebone, however, disclosed that the party was making efforts to reconcile its members to halt the recent mass defections that hit the party, especially from the faction led by the former transportation minister which he described as the mainstream APC.
He also dismissed reports that Amaechi has resigned from the party.
