The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has endorsed Tonye Cole as its flagbearer in the 2023 governorship elections in the state.
Cole was chosen after a meeting by the leadership of the party Friday night.
According to Prince Tonye Princewill, one of the governorship aspirants and an insider at the meeting, “the decision has just been made for Tonye Cole to fly the flag. It was not made by the Minister (Rotimi Amaechi). It was made by the leaders of the party.
“The 10 aspirants plus two new names that had also indicated interest were asked to excuse themselves while all of the leaders minus the Minister then sat and deliberated. We were just called back along with the Minister to be given their decision.”
Tonye Cole is one of the 11candidates in the APC who recently signed a peace and unity accord ahead of the 2023 governorship election.
In 2019 he was to represent the party in the governorship election but the move was truncated by a court which halted the APC from fielding any candidate for the elections due to multiple litigations that resulted from parallel primaries held by disagreeing Amaechi and Magnus Abe’s factions of the party.
Until the 2019 elections, nothing much was known about Cole politically but he was well known as a rich businessman with an impressive resume.
He is perceived to be Amaechi’s strong business partner and has the financial requirements to wrest political power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP ) in Rivers State.
It is not clear yet if other aspirants are comfortable with the party’s decision as Sen. Magnus Abe had earlier indicated his interest in the governorship candidate and had insisted on a clear and acceptable process of selection of the party’s standard-bearer.
The other governorship aspirants include Dr Dakuku Peterside, Dr Dawari George, Prince Tonye Princewill and Dr Sokonte Davies.
Others are Biokpomabo Awara, Francis Ebenezer Ada, Mina Tender, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree and Ibinabo Micheal-West.
Meanwhile, the Ijaw National Congress, the pan-Ijaw political and cultural apex body have expressed joy with the APC decision to give its governorship ticket to Tonye Cole, an Ijaw son.
In a radio programme monitored in Port Harcourt Saturday morning, the President General of INC, Prof. Benjamin Okagba said the congress is happy with the decision as he calls on the PDP and other political parties to also follow the footsteps of the APC.
He expressed appreciation to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi whom he said he believed midwifed the decision.
He said APC’s choice of Tonye Cole is in agreement with the campaign of the riverine Ijaw section of the start to produce the next governor of the state.
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