Rivers: Efforts Were Made To Stop Us From Contesting 2023 Election – Abe

Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, has revealed that some unnamed leaders in the state made efforts to stop him and other party candidates from participating in the 2023 general elections in the state.

Abe made the revelation yesterday while speaking during the flag-off and dedication service of the SDP campaign for the forthcoming elections at Saint Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, Port Harcourt.

The service was attended by the party’s deputy governorship candidate, Dr. Patricia Ogbonnaya and other party leaders in the state, as well as the Anglican Bishop of Ogoni Diocese, Rt. Reverend Solomon Gberegbara.

Abe said: “It is your presence here and how you have come, you have convinced me beyond everything that the Almighty God is with us and we will win.

“Now, that brings us to the question people will ask; why are we here? Like I said, we are here to thank God. Those who know the cause of the journey that brought us this far, know that we have every reason to be grateful to God.

“Those who know that efforts that were made to frustrate us, to make it impossible for us to present ourselves before Rivers people as candidates in the 2023 election, will know that it is important that we come here to thank God even for the honour and privilege of being on the ballot. It was not as easy as it will look.

“Those who have power had already decided that we will never contest this election because everybody was afraid.  Someone even told me that they know that if I contest, I will win, but tell me; how will you get the ticket? God has answered that question. We have the ticket, we are on the ballot, we will contest and we will win.”

Earlier in his sermon, the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Niger Delta North, Rt. Reverend Wisdom Ihunwo, said God will cause the campaigns and the 2023 general elections to be peaceful.

Ihunwo said: “We thank God again for another period of election in our nation, Nigeria. We pray God will cause the campaigns and the 2023 elections to be peaceful.

“We pray to God to give everybody understanding so that no life will be lost during the campaigns and election proper. We commend Senator Abe and his team and pray that God will guide them through the campaigns.”