A former senator, Magnus Abe has said he would not attend the public hearing of a petition written against the Nigerian Army by the Civil Liberties Organisation.

The invitation was forwarded to the former senator by the House of Representatives.

In a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abe said he would not attend because the hearing was one of the schemes by Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike.

Abe said the petition was signed for public hearing by a close aide to Wike,  Livingstone Wechie.

He said the governor has been using Wechie to launch campaigns against the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The letter read in part, “Mr. Speaker sir, I have read through the said petition and it is clear that the petition sponsored through your office is nothing but an ill-disguised attempt by the Peoples Democratic Party to manipulate federal  agencies and influence public opinion in order to secure undue advantage for the PDP in the coming rerun elections.”

Azeez