Former Chief of Staff to Rivers State government, Chief Tony Okocha has revealed that Senator Magnus Abe dumped the All Progressives Congress, APC, Rivers state because of his conviction that Bola Ahmed Tinubu would lose the February 25 presidential election.
Recall that just a few months to the general elections, Abe defected from the APC to the Social Democratic Party, SDP where he contested the Rivers State governorship election which he later lose to Siminalaye Fubara of the PDP.
Responding to the allegation made by the director of election planning and management for Tinubu/Shettima independent campaign council, Rivers State chapter, Chief Kadilo Kabari that some persons were championing ethnic entitlement mentality, Okocha said politics is beyond “church mentality”.
Kadilo said “I condemn in its entirety ethnocentric bias championed by one Tony Okocha and the campaign of calumny against Senator Magnus Abe.
Wike was a minister under President Goodluck Jonathan. Amaechi was a governor. All of them are from the Ikwerre extraction of Rivers State. That is ethnocentric”.
In his reaction, Tony Okocha questioned how he appropriated the victory of Tinubu to himself. “Did I appropriate or arrogate to myself, the Victory of the APC/Tinubu to myself? Did I demand for the head of the animal?
“My position remains that it was Gov Nyesom Wike and his PDP structure in Rivers State, that helped to deliver Rivers State to Tinubu”, he repeated.
Okocha said “Magnus Abe seized to talk about Tinubu when he got convinced that Tinubu was going to fail and so, defected from Tinubu’s Party, APC, to the SDP where he became the Governorship Candidate.
“Amaechi on the other bend, instructed formally, his supporters in his faction of APC in RIvers, to vote Atiku. So, I ask: who qualifies for reward from Tinubu in RIvers State?
He said Kadilo Kabari is only on the planks of Tribal/Ethnic sentiments, adding that “we are in Politics not Church. He should be so reminded to reset his mentality.
“He and Magnus are unable to debunk the public documents (Units/wards results sheets), for the Presidential Election.
“In these result sheets, SDP defeated the APC fair and square in Magnus’ ward. What then is their contribution to Tinubu’s electoral victory in RIvers State?