The caretaker committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers state has suspended Magnus Abe, a former senator representing Rivers north-east, from the party.
Isaac Ogbubula, chairman of the caretaker committee, announced the suspension of the former senator while addressing a press conference in Port Harcourt on Saturday.
Apart from Abe, Igo Aguma, a former acting chairman of Rivers APC; Livingstone Nweche, former spokesperson of the party in Rivers, and Wogu Boms, a former Rivers commissioner of justice, were also suspended by the committee loyal to Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation.
The former senator and Amaechi have been at loggerheads over affairs of the APC in Rivers.
Their rift worsened during the 2019 general election.
While the minister was backing Tonye Cole, co-founder of Sahara Group, as the party’s governorship candidate in Rivers, Abe fought to be the party’s standard bearer.
As a result of the clash of interest, Cole and Abe emerged as governorship candidates after parallel congresses were held in the state.
The development led to endless litigation and the votes of the APC were voided by the supreme court, making the party lose all the elective positions in the state.
Speaking at the conference, Ogbubula said the wards of the affected persons recommended their expulsion from the party.
The national executive committee (NEC) of the APC will have to ratify the recommendation before it can take effect.
Recall in 2018, Magnus Abe accused Rotimi Amaechi of running a one man show.
In an interview with The Interview magazine, Mr Abe said, “My grievances with the Transport Minister,” Mr Abe said, “have nothing to do with him supporting me or not supporting me. I have told him clearly that he is free to support who he wants to support. My disagreement with him is that he said I should not run, and I said I will run.”
He also narrated how the feud between him and Mr Amaechi, who used to be his ally and friend, spilled into his family circle when the minister visited him at home.
“To come to my house, call me in front of my wife and tell me not to try contesting was the height of it. I said no, I will not accept that one: I will contest,” Mr Abe said.
