Governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Prince Tonye Princewill, has accepted the party’s decision to adopt Tonye Cole as its candidate for the 2023 elections.
Princewill said he will support Cole to fly the party’s flag because the party needs to unite and forge a common front to effect the needed change in Rivers State.
Cole was the APC governorship candidate in the 2019 election before the court disqualified the party from the elections.
Princewill however denied reports that the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, handpicked Cole, saying the minister was not part of the decision.
He said: “I was looking forward to leading the APC into battle with PDP in 2023. So to say I’m happy would not be an accurate reflection of how I feel.
“The decision is still fresh and feelings are still raw. Many are still in shock. Some are still sad. However, I subscribed to a team and I signed up to a political process. That makes it my responsibility to live up to the rules of the game. That makes it my responsibility to support Tonye Cole. And so I will.
“To all those who supported me, I want you to think of what I represent and why that means that we need change in Rivers State. We began this consultation because we wanted to hear your voices. That listening ear will never ever change. It remains to be seen what God has in store for us. The leader graciously asked me to join him in Abuja, so my attention will shift there, but my heart remains in Rivers State. ..”
Cole has also explained that the decision of the Rivers State APC to make him a consensus candidate for the 2023 governorship election was taken after a heavy debate.
He said following the mistake of 2019 when people labelled his candidature an imposition by Amaechi, the party set up a better process that led to his adoption as a consensus candidate.
He said: “Our great party has adopted me as the consensus candidate for the 2023 governorship election. This decision did not come lightly and was heavily debated.
“Many lessons were learnt from my emergence as the flag bearer in 2019, the primary one being that I was erroneously labelled as an imposition. To avoid any such controversies this time, all the persons interested in contesting the position were asked by the party to carry out wide consultations with stakeholders, and an agreement was reached for a committee that would not include the leader, to critically analyse each aspirant and arrive at a consensus candidate that is best suited to achieve the party’s vision, and for the sake of its unity and progress.
“I thank the committee for an unbiased assessment that ended up making me the consensus candidate. I thank all the aspirants for their magnanimity, and pledge of support to me and loyalty to the party…”
“The work ahead of us is immense, but the path to victory is much clearer today than it was yesterday. We must therefore agree to stand as one body and work together to deliver APC in the elections in order to give our dear Rivers State a new lease of life through purposeful and progressive governance that will bring about social cohesion and economic prosperity.”
