After Withdrawing Petition from Tribunal, Abe Mocked by PDP • His Loyalists May Return to APC
Hours after the candidate of the SDP in the just concluded gubernatorial election in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Abe announced the withdrawal of his petition from the elections tribunal, the PDP in the state has said that Abe has seen the reality of his loss to the ruling party in Rivers.
Spokesman of the party, Sydney Gbara who reacted to Abe’s decision to pull out of the tribunal said Abe must have realised that he was going to waste his time at the tribunal because Rivers people had given their votes to the PDP and he couldn’t have been able to upturn the election result.
The former candidate used to be in the APC before defecting to the SDP to contest the election. before becoming the candidate, Abe was a known supporter and promoter of the aspiration of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is now the president-elect, having won the presidential election under the APC.
A few days ago, Abe was reported to have visited Tinubu. It is not clear whether it was at that meeting that he was told to withdraw his petition. But the announcement of his decision was made after he returned from meeting the president-elect.
Already, his action has been interpreted to mean that he must have been ordered to withdraw his petition against Sim Fubara, the preferred choice of Nyesom Wike, who had also fought hard to secure victory for Tinubu in Rivers.
In a statement, Abe’s media aide, Parry Saroh Benson had however quoted Abe as saying that “we cannot also put our ego above every other consideration in our State. We must learn as politicians to be pragmatic and put the interest of Rivers State and Rivers people above every other interests.
“Having taken a very clear review of the situation in the state and what is happening in the state, I have decided, in consultation with the party both at the national and at the state, that I, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, will withdraw my petition at the Election Petitions Tribunal in the interest of those who have suffered and sacrificed in support of our cause.
“More importantly, it is the interest of our state so that we begin to reduce the bickering and confusion that is in our state, in order to give all of us opportunity to be able to move forward with our lives.
“I take this decision very conscious of the pain, of the trauma and of the confusion it will bring to all of you”.
There were speculations on Monday, that supporters and loyalists of Abe may be getting ready to return to the APC in the days ahead.
