Rivers APC Reps consulted me before visiting Wike, says Sen Abe

In the midst of the controversy trailing the visit by members of the Rivers State caucus in the House of Representatives which included members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to Governor Nyesom Wike recently, the senator representing Rivers South-East District in the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, has declared that the group consulted him before their visit to the state governor.

Senator Abe, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Friday by his spokesperson, Mr. Parry Saroh Benson, said contrary to media reports, the federal lawmakers were at Government House, Port Harcourt, on the invitation of the governor.

The senator said the comments made by the member representing Tai/Eleme/Oyigbo Federal Constituency, Dr. Barry Mpigi, praising the governor, has been manipulated by those seeking to score cheap political points.

The statement reads in part, “My attention has been drawn to the needless controversy surrounding the recent visit of the Rivers House of Reps caucus which includes members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the APC to the Rivers State Government House on the invitation of the Governor.

“On the receipt of the governor’s invitation, I was consulted by the House of Representatives Caucus and I did not just agree, I insisted that members honour the governor’s invitation (which for the first time was extended to all the parties).

“It is important that though we belong to different political parties we should maintain lines of communication within the government that will enable us to serve our people better, which is the reason we were elected in the first place. Rivers state is not the only state where some lawmakers and the Governor are from opposing parties.

“Hon Barry Mpigi’s comment during the visit has been manipulated by those seeking to score cheap political points. Yes, Hon Mpigi commended the governor but he also went further to say that the several areas in which the APC administration has done well the PDP should also find the courage to commend the APC Government, as politics should not be a do or die affair.

However, the statement said, that part of the speech which fed the desired narrative of those seeking to exploit the visit for political gain, had been carefully ignored and urged all Rivers people without recourse to political affiliation to ignore the politics and focus on the positives.

Amaka Agbu, Port Harcourt