Ahead of the 2019 election, the minister of transportation and former governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi has vowed to use the numerical strength of the Ikwerre people to block the governorship ambition of his political godson, Senator Magnus Abe.
Speaking in Port Harcourt, the minister said he would not support Abe who represents Rivers South-East senatorial district, Abe for he (Abe) had been abusing him (Amaechi).
“There is no fight in the APC. I am not in any way stopping Abe from running for the governorship (position), but what I know is that I will not support him. Abe is daring me; an Ikwerre son. He is abusing me every day. I will ensure I use Ikwerre vote on him,” he said.
He said his Ikwerre ethnic group had 1.1 million votes out of the 2.5 million eligible voters in the state.
Amaechi said he would keep faith with the rotational principle in which the governorship is position is rotated among the various ethnic groups of the state.
He said it would amount to greed should Ikwerre hold on to power for more than 12 years adding that he would support a person from the riverine area to occupy the position of the governor for eight years before power would move to Ogoni.
“At the moment, we have not chosen a candidate. Only God will decide who will become the next governor,” he said.
In his reaction, Abe who represents the Ogoni bloc said the people of the state reserve the right to determine who their leaders will be, stressing that the state must come first.
Speaking during a victory thanksgiving/reception by the federal and state lawmakers elected on the platform of the APC in Rivers State said: “Now is the time to put the interest of the state ahead of anything else. We must work together so that the people can benefit from the politics we play.”
Besides Abe, the other APC lawmakers who took part in the celebration were the members representing Eleme/Tai/Oyigbo, Khana/Gokana and Emohua/Ikwerre federal constituencies in the House of Representatives, Barry Mpigi, Maurice Pronen and Chidi Wihioka respectively.
Others were legislators representing Eleme, Khana II and Tai constituencies in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Josiah Olu; Friday Nkeeh and Mathew Dike, respectively.
