Why South South Senator is angry
A Senator from one of the oil rich states in the South South geopolitical zone who belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party hasn’t been feeling very happy of late.
Apart from failing to realize his ambition to emerge as governorship candidate in 2022, he has been unable in 2023 to influence the emergence at the roundtable, of a consensus governorship candidate that a group outside his party is planning to produce.
For weeks, intense conversations have been going on behind the scene among former supporters of Governor Wike who are trying desperately to forge a coalition with opposition .
Also involved in the scheme are some former military officers who think they are in a position to determine the future of the State.
Senator Lee Maeba, Atiku’s secret weapon lost out against Governor Nyesom Wike in a gambit over who occupies Brick House . Has he also lost to retired generals who want seize control of power in Rivers?
Our sources say the Senator, Lee Maeba, an insider in the Atiku team that is angry none of its members could obtain the governorship ticket of the PDP, has been pushing his associates to adopt Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party, SDP.
Senator Abe is from Gokana Local Government Area in the Rivers South East Senatorial District of Rivers State.
Abe’s quest for the governorship is as old as 2015. In 2018 he made another strong bid for the governorship and was again denied by the APC.
In return, Abe denied the APC of the opportunity to have candidates on the ballot by going to court.
But in 2022, the Senator dumped the APC, embraced the SDP and emerged as its candidate.
Lee believes in the notion of an Ogoni governor, those close to him reveal.
Senator Magnus Abe gubernatorial candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, with his running mate, Patience Ogbonnaya a.k.a Ada Ekpeye.An insider, name withheld, disclosed, “if the APC had given the ticket to Magnus instead of Dakuku Peterside in 2015 or Tonye Cole in 2018, Lee would have worked for the APC.
Pushing his argument at one of the meetings called to determine who out of the candidates outside the PDP the anti-Wike group would support, Lee is said to have strenuously stood by Abe.
He is believed to have maintained that the Ogonis have solid votes in Khana, Gokana and Tai which could be harvested in bloc, given the mood on ground.
Lee’s opponents at the said meeting insisted formally and informally that backing a Riverine candidate after several years of Upland leadership would be the right route to travel.
They fear that a backlash, particularly in the Riverine areas where people are becoming increasingly assured that a clean shot at the governorship, with the support of the Upland, is really possible.
However, the Senator who is allegedly disappointed appears to think that his colleagues are passing off a chance to upstage Wike.
In reality, Governor Nyesom Wike and the PDP that he leads are stronger on ground.
Five out of every eight Rivers people spoken to agree Wike has worked hard in office.
They also believe Governor Wike who is rapidly transforming Rivers State enjoys mass support that is awesome.
A picture of what is likely to happen on the campaign trail is gradually emerging. In Omoku on Monday, strong indication that the PDP would sweep Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area emerged.
Tuesday, all the roads led to Omagwa in the Ikwerre Local Government Area. Events in that LGA proved no party is in a strong position to contest for the people’s mandate with the PDP.
In the meantime, Lee sulks in the background, according to his close allies, as his friends who are friends of Atiku chase a different interest in Rivers State.
