‘Wike in alliance with Tinubu’ — Magnus Abe speaks on why he withdrew Rivers poll petition

Magnus Abe, candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Rivers, has explained why he withdrew his petition challenging the outcome of the state governorship election.

On March 21, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Siminialayi Fubara, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as winner of the Rivers state governorship election.

Fubara secured 302,614 votes to win the election, while his closest challenger, Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 95,274 votes. Abe scored 46,981 votes.

Cole and Abe rejected the outcome of the election and vowed to challenge Fubara’s victory at the tribunal.

Recently, the SDP governorship candidate announced the withdrawal of his petition challenging the victory of the PDP candidate.

Speaking on Tuesday in an interview with Channels Television, Abe said he withdrew his election petition owing to a combination of certain factors in the politics of Rivers state.

The former senator said the withdrawal of his petition will provide comfort for his supporters who faced harassment and intimidation before, during and after the election.

Abe added that the “alliance” between Nyesom Wike, outgoing Rivers governor, and Bola Tinubu, president-elect, makes it very difficult for him to prosecute the election petition.

“It is not all about the resources like I said earlier. It is a combination of different factors,” he said.

“First of all, what will cost us to successfully prosecute an election petition against the government of Rivers state is not something I want to discuss on national television. For the purpose of emphasis, that is not why we pulled out.

“When we started the fight, we were ready to take on the Rivers state government and PDP.

“Now, the Rivers state government is in an alliance with our mentor, father and that alliance with G5 now affects the dynamics of what happens in River state.

“If we are confident that we can defeat all of them, we can talk to our people to sell their houses and markets to prosecute the case.”

In 2022, Abe left the APC for the SDP to contest the governorship election in Rivers.

Before leaving the APC, Abe was one of the political mobilisers for Tinubu’s presidential ambition. The former lawmaker is one of the key allies of the president-elect in Rivers state.