Former Senator Magnus Abe has declared his support for President Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the party’s Rivers State governorship candidate for next year’s general election, Kingsley Chinda.
Abe spoke at a leadership and stakeholders’ meeting of Ogoni indigenes in Bori at the weekend, where he warned against ‘pull-him-down syndrome’ in the area.
According to him, it was within the right of every Nigerian to associate with and support whoever they choose, but no one has the right to undermine others over differing political loyalties.
‘Everybody is free to contest and support whoever they want to support, but I, as a person, I know who I am supporting. I am supporting Tinubu, I am supporting Chinda, I am also supporting the APC, my party. That is my right. Other people are free to do the same, but we are not free to run other people down,’ he said.
Abe, who is also chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), urged Ogoni leaders to embrace unity, strategy and peaceful political engagement for the area’s development. He commended organisers of the meeting for bringing Ogoni people together without waiting for political or government backing, describing infighting among leaders as ‘a strategy for failure.’ He stressed that no society can achieve progress ‘without planning, commitment … and sacrifice.’
Citing his own background, Abe said his father was a pastor who earned N94 a month, and that quality education could transform lives. He urged Ogoni youths and communities to stop fighting over oil and gas activities, warning that such divisions would only stall development.
He described Ogoniland’s oil and gas resources as a ‘God-given opportunity’ to lift the area out of poverty, saying his position as NUPRC chairman offered a unique opportunity to address the area’s challenges.