PORT HARCOURT: Nkoyo Etim Reporting
The unguarded utterances of political leaders—reckless, abusive, or misleading statements—are often detrimental to society.
In this regard, political management consultant Joe Korka-Waadah has called on Senator Magnus Abe to abandon what he described as Abe’s “habitual sitting on the fence” regarding the persistent political crises in Rivers State.
Korka-Waadah, a Canada-based consultant and chieftain of the Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC), was responding to Senator Abe’s recent comments in Fubara, where he alleged that political leaders in Rivers State supporting Governor Siminalayi Fubara were acting out of self-interest.
At a New Year’s Day gathering hosted by Nyesom Wike in Port Harcourt, Abe accused Rivers political leaders of engaging in anti-party activities and claimed their support for Fubara was motivated solely by selfish gains.
Vanguard reports that Abe stated, “If tomorrow, Governor Siminalayi Fubara can no longer advance his supporters’ agenda to bring down Wike, they will abandon him and move on to someone else.”
In a sharp response, Korka-Waadah, who shares Ogoni roots with Abe, criticized the former senator for what he termed a repetitive approach to politics.
He said, “The former senator representing Rivers South East District should know that he cannot keep doing the same thing the same way and expect a different result.”
Waadah accused Abe of “sitting on the fence” and presenting himself as a false peacemaker instead of standing firmly for the truth.
He added, “Abe’s politics of sitting on the fence when men of integrity need to take a stand is what has ruined his political career and turned him into a Wike apologist, making him a political outcast in Rivers State.”
According to Korka-Waadah, Abe’s accusations against Fubara’s supporters are hypocritical.
He argued, “Abe may be justified in saying that most Rivers political leaders engage in anti-party activities, but his own anti-party stance, along with that of his former foe-turned-ally Wike, is legendary.”
Waadah accused Abe of betraying the APC in three consecutive election cycles since 2015 after failing to secure the party’s gubernatorial ticket, ultimately aiding the PDP’s victories.
Waadah further stated, “Today, Abe judges those supporting Fubara as selfish.”
“Who is more selfish than Abe? He pretends to be for everybody and for nobody, yet he kowtows to Wike after all the humiliation he endured from him.”
Anti-party Wike of the PDP is now a minister under Tinubu, while Abe, who claims to have supported Tinubu more than anyone in Rivers, has been left in the cold.”
“If Wike weren’t a minister, would Abe still be dancing around him?”
Korka-Waadah, who also serves as the Executive Director of the Compassionate Heart Foundation in Canada, challenged Abe’s accusations of legislative interference, saying, “How can an informed lawyer accuse Fubara of declaring legislators’ seats vacant when the law, not Fubara, prohibits lawmakers from abandoning their party platform without justification?”