Magnus Abe, candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP)
in Rivers, has explained why he withdrew his petition challenging the outcome
of the state governorship election.
On March 21, the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) declared Siminialayi Fubara, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), as winner of the Rivers state governorship election.
Fubara secured 302,614 votes to win the election, while his
closest challenger, Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled
95,274 votes. Abe scored 46,981 votes.
Cole and Abe rejected the outcome of the election and vowed
to challenge Fubara’s victory at the tribunal.
Recently, the SDP governorship candidate announced the
withdrawal of his petition challenging the victory of the PDP candidate.
Speaking on Tuesday in an interview with Channels
Television, Abe said he withdrew his election petition owing to a combination
of certain factors in the politics of Rivers state.
The former senator said the withdrawal of his petition will
provide comfort for his supporters who faced harassment and intimidation
before, during and after the election.
Abe added that the “alliance” between Nyesom Wike, outgoing
Rivers governor, and Bola Tinubu, president-elect, makes it very difficult for
him to prosecute the election petition.
“It is not all about the resources like I said earlier. It
is a combination of different factors,” he said.
“First of all, what will cost us to successfully prosecute
an election petition against the government of Rivers state is not something I
want to discuss on national television. For the purpose of emphasis, that is
not why we pulled out.
“When we started the fight, we were ready to take on the
Rivers state government and PDP.
“Now, the Rivers
state government is in an alliance with our mentor, father and that alliance
with G5 now affects the dynamics of what happens in River state.
“If we are confident that we can defeat all of them, we can
talk to our people to sell their houses and markets to prosecute the case.”
In 2022, Abe left the APC for the SDP to contest the
governorship election in Rivers.
Before leaving the APC, Abe was one of the political
mobilisers for Tinubu’s presidential ambition. The former lawmaker is one of
the key allies of the president-elect in Rivers state.
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