The Magnus Abe faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has opposed the endorsement of Mr. Tonye Cole as the party’s candidate in the 2023 governorship elections.
Recall that in 2019 Cole was the anointed candidate of the minister of transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.
However, Cole could not fly the party’s flag as the court stopped the state chapter of the APC from fielding any candidate for the elections due to multiple litigations that resulted from parallel primaries held by both the Amaechi and Abe factions.
According to The Guardian, the choice of Cole for 2023 was decided at a meeting held Friday night in Port Harcourt.
“The decision has just been made for Tonye Cole to fly the flag. It was not made by the minister. 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,” the paper quoted a source as saying.
However, the Abe camp described the endorsement as “selfishness of the highest order by the minister of transportation.”
“Cole does not have our approval. We cannot be with him; the man is not a party man. He is a business associate of the minister of transportation.”
“This entails that selfishness has been taken to the highest order that a man who has no business of playing politics, who has no iota of idea of playing politics is shoved down the throat of his supporters,” said Mr. Golden Chioma who is Abe’s loyalist.
Chioma emphasised that Amaechi was backing Cole because of their business dealings, noting that there are “more credible and experienced candidates in the minister’s faction; he did not endorse them.”
