Our members resigning to pursue other interests, says Rivers APC

… says Abe’s exit good riddance
Coming on the heels of recent defections by some key members of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, the party has stated that some members resigned to pursue other interests, adding that they exercised their right of freedom of association by seeking greener political pastures elsewhere.

The party, in a statement signed by its state Publicity Secretary, Senibo Chris Finebone, yesterday, in Port Harcourt, said it was pertinent to respond to the anxiety and concerns of members of the party and the public over resignations of some party members in the past two weeks.

Finebone, who noted that defections are not strange happening in political space, said: “To start with, we believe movements of politicians in and out of political parties in Nigeria have become part of the political culture of politicians, especially towards the end of every election cycle. It cuts across political parties.

“Recently, a few members of our party in Rivers State resigned their membership of the party. It is very pertinent to state that the persons that resigned belong to two categories. The first is made up of a few persons, who either resigned to pursue other interests in life or exercised their right of free association by seeking greener political pastures elsewhere. To these persons, we acknowledge their contributions to the party and wish them well in their future endeavours.”

Also, Finebone, while recounting incidents that led to the fallout between the party and Senator Magnus Abe, said the party considers the exit of Abe and his associates from the APC as good riddance.

“We make bold to state without an iota of doubt that Abe and his supporters had, by their actions and utterances, long ceased to be functional members of APC. They shunned and refused to participate in membership revalidation that was carried out nationwide by the party. They also abstained from other legitimate activities of the party, making their recent purported resignation a mere formality and part of their face-saving exit strategy aimed at deceiving the public.

“This is essentially to explain to the public that Rivers APC considers the formal exit of Abe and his associates from the APC as good riddance. We liken it to a successful excision of debilitating cancer from the body. Rivers APC can now heave a sigh of relief from the sustained destabilising onslaught by Abe. We wish him well as he joins the SDP. We pray that he takes everything he exhibited in APC, particularly his nuisance value, to his new party so that the world would see him for who he truly is.”