Abe Tasks Parties On Internal Democracy

The immediate past Senator representing Rivers South East District at the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Abe, has called on political parties in Nigeria to imbibe the culture of internal democracy to strengthen membership for the overall interest of the country.
This is as Senator Abe accused the former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi of hiring a propagandist identified as Eze Chukwuemeka Eze to malign him and carry out a series of blackmail against him for some selfish reasons, especially in view of the fate that befell the party in the state during the last political dispensation.
Abe in a statement by his spokesman, Parry Benson at the weekend and made available to newsmen described the process of change in Nigeria’s democracy as work in progress while urging politicians to return power to the people by creating clear processes that can galvanize and determine their wishes.
He further said that those in power must learn to submit themselves to the will of the people, saying, “The time has come for political parties in Nigeria to adhere to the principles of internal democracy. When this is done the parties will work to promote the overall interest of the country and that of its members, rather than serve the narrow interest of a few leaders.
Abe who was Chairman, Committee on FERMA at the 8th Senate advocated for strong institutions in order to boost political stability and discourage violence, bigotry and rascality; as is currently playing out in Nigeria’s political environment.
The statement further reads, “I think the time has come for us to address the issue of Nigeria, the kind of political parties that we have and what we should do to make the parties work better to serve the interest, not just of its members but the interest of the country at large.”
Abe reiterated that he has no personal grudges against the former Minister of Transport, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi and the governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State in last general election, Tonye Cole, but that the former should stop seeing himself as the only highway in the party such that it is either everybody follows his decisions or be booted out, noting that there is no such provision in the party’s constitution.

“I don’t think that members of the party even those who are with him (Amaechi) will agree with that attitude. The nature of power in this country is that people see themselves as helpless when the powers that be, have taken a stand. ”We need to bring the party back together, because a political party that cannot gather members to win election is just like a social club. To take over power, you need to have the capacity to build consensus and that is what we have been unable to do in the APC particularly in Rivers State and we are still open to that possibility.

Senator Abe said Amaechi hired a propagandist, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze to malign him for reasons best know him even before the last general elections, especially as the party in the state was not in the ballot. When people have already done something wrong and realized that what they have done is not defendable, not acceptable and that reasonable people will not accept it neither can it be defended, they go back to create a narrative that justifies what clearly cannot be justified.

“I have decided to ignore all those things because Amaechi himself knows that it is not true. Chief Eze who is saying it knows it is not true and majority of reasonable people in the country know that those things are nothing but pure blackmail,” Abe said, adding that he remain committed to the party.

Dennis Naku