Senator Magnus Abe, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate for the 2023 Governorship Election in Rivers State, declared on Tuesday that no one is better qualified to run Nigeria than President Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, was proclaimed the winner of the closely contested February 25 poll. He defeated his closest competitors, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, to win the nation’s coveted post.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Abe said Tinubu is well experienced to lead Africa’s largest economy.
“Of all the candidates that indicated interest to run for the 2023 presidency, nobody was better prepared, nobody has better experience, nobody has greater capacity than Tinubu,” he stated.
“Atiku Abubakar himself, when he was politically-challenged, he ran to Tinubu. It was Tinubu that accommodated him, gave him the platform, and supported him to run.
“So, this man (Tinubu) has the capacity, the knowledge and the reach to bring diverse people together in this country. He has shown that repeatedly, including this last election.
“If it was not for the fact that it was Tinubu that was running, I doubt if the APC would have been able to do as much as they have done with all the challenges that went on that time.”
Loyal To Tinubu?
During the interview, Abe, who represented Rivers South-East Senatorial District in the 9th Assembly, pledged his loyalty to President Tinubu.
Although he became a federal lawmaker under the APC platform, he later dumped the ruling party for the SDP where he clinched the party’s ticket for the March 11 governorship poll in the oil-rich state.
Despite his loss to Siminalayi Fubara of the PDP, the senator has not returned to the ruling APC. Rather, he pledged his loyalty to the President who is also the ruling party’s leader.
When asked if he has dumped the SDP for APC, he said, “I have not moved. I went to the SDP primarily because of the Rivers State situation and politics of Rivers State.
“As far as the national politics was concerned, I have always been where you know that I am.”
After the show’s anchor, Seun Okinbaloye asked him if he was a Tinubu man, Abe replied, “That’s where I am.”