The Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate in the March 18 governorship election in Rivers state, Sen Magnus Abe, has surprisingly withdrawn his petition before the Elections Tribunal.
Mr. Abe had challenged the outcome of the election and recently lauded the relocation of the tribunal from Port Harcourt to Abuja.
But on Sunday, he told party leaders in Port Harcourt that the decision to withdraw his petition, though personal, was reached in consultation and agree with the party hierarchy at state and national levels.
He said, “Having made a very clear review of the situation and what is happening in the state, I’ve decided in consultation with the party at the state and national that I withdraw my petition at the election petition tribunal”
Abe added, “In the interest, first of those who have suffered and laboured so much in this politics in support of our course, more importantly in the interest of our state, so that we begin to reduce the bickering and confusion in the state in order to give us all an opportunity to be able to move forward with our lives.
“I take this decision, very conscious of the pains, the trauma, of the confusion it will bring to a lot of you who wanted that opportunity to present your pains before the public in a court of law so the court have the opportunity to decide what happened to us here in the state (Rivers) whether it was good or bad.
“That would have been our joy and we were committed and determined to bring that to past but at the end of the day, politics is not a single person’s sport. It is a team sport and playing with members of your team, you take decisions such as we have in the wider interest of the entire team and not to satisfy anyone person or individual.
“I know a lot of you will be very pained or may be very upset by this decision, but I say to you the interest of all of us overrides the interests of anyone of us.”
CHECKPOINTCHARLEY 