As the 2015 gubernatorial elections draw near, the expected candidature of Senator Magnus Ngei Abe is causing divisions amongst the Ogonis.
In a press release delivered to various media outlets signed by Mr. Roland Nwikwor, Mr. Raymond Michael and Mr. Patrick Wifa, a group, the Ogoni People Development Forum (OPDF) expressed support for the Governor of Rivers state, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi and for Senator Magnus Abe before calling on “all Ogoni sons and daughters to join hands together and work for the realization of the “Ogoni for Governor 2015” project”. Although the group did not expressly call for support for Senator Magnus Abe’s reported guber ambition, the statement was met with that interpretation in some quarters.
In a swift reaction, another group, the Ogoni Ethnic Nationality (OEN) opposed the stance of the OPDF saying:
“we use this opportunity to call on Mr. Roland Nwikwor and his group to rather desist from allowing themselves to be used in destroying Ogoni by selfish and greedy politicians who have allowed pride to eat up their reasoning abilities and direction ,we would therefore state that Senator Abe and his agents, including Honour Sirawo should be held responsible for any breakdown of law and order in Ogoni as they have regrettably misdirected the resources they would have used in developing Ogoni and the electorate who ‘voted’ for them to funding groups with questionable mission.”
The OPDF also condemned the alleged actions of some Ogoni indigenes, Jerry Needam and Marvin Yobana, whom they accused of making unguarded statements against the person and office of the Governor of Rivers State. In its response, the OEN declared “unalloyed confidence” in both Jerry Needam and Marvin Yobana.
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Source; CityNews