Ibrahim Bakare/Port Harcourt
Tonye Cole, the Governorship candidate of Rivers State All Progressives Congress, APC, has assured that by divine intervention the party will be on the ballot despite the hiccups and legal challenges.
He explained his reason for his confidence saying that God is the true judge, that all powers belong to him and he is with the APC. “We will be on the ballot in 2023, nothing can stop this from happening”.
Cole expressed the optimism today during in the unveiling of his 2023 Campaign manifesto 2023 Tonye Cole, Wednesday in Port Harcourt.
The party also used the occasion to inuagurate its Campaign Council which has as its Director General, Chief Michael West.
At the occasion, Cole stated that if elected, his administration if elected governor in 2023 would stand on three pivots of Social Welfare; Peace and security; and developmental infrastructure adding that his manifesto has the people “as the core of everything we will do”.
According to him, “The people come first and will be the parameter on which the policies we pursue and drive are centred”.
Cole said he will strive to bringing Rivers citizens out of poverty is a top priority.
The Governorship candidate his administration would take serious steps to bring back businesses that have left Rivers State by ensuring businesses thrive under peace and security.
“We will invest in infrastructure that will enable you develop, from agriculture, education, health entertainment, sports to other critical infrastructure that will enable you develop on your own”.
Cole stated that despite all the travails of the APC in Rivers State the party would be on the ballot for the election in 2023 expressing the confidence in the party’s victory at the election.
Former Minister of Transportation and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers, Rt Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has advised the Party’s Governorship Candidate, other 2023 election candidates and leaders of the party in Rivers State to pay more attention to winning and seek ways to make the State better, rather than indulge in malice.
Amaechi gave the advise at the inauguration of the Tonye Cole/Innocent Barikor governorship campaign council and manifesto launch in Port Harcourt, Wednesday.
Amaechi encouraged the party members to be steadfast in spite of the challenges and work for the victory of the Party at the 2023 polls.
“How many of you have seen me succeed politically without travails? In 2006, didn’t they leave? They left, but God said to me ‘you must forgive.’ So I said to God if you make me the Governor, I will forgive. And I forgave people. One thing you must do now is to listen to God. The next thing you must do is work, because faith without work is dead.
“My advise to Tonye Cole is that he should not look back. (If he becomes governor), he doesn’t need to punish anybody, he should focus on how to govern Rivers State, because the state is at its worst. He should not bother about me and those who say they are my political enemies, because it’s not his business. He should not inherit any grudge, he should rather look at how to change Rivers State and make Rivers State progress.
“I came to tell you that the struggle is not new. We have passed through this before. We passed through it when I was to be governor, we passed through it when Buhari was going for President. But if we work together we will win by God’s grace.
Amaechi further noted that the Poll by Atedo Peterside’s ANAP Foundation shows that APC can win the governorship in Rivers State, urging party members that it’s time to come home and strategise, and go all out to win.
“I don’t know if I agree with Atedo Peterside’s (ANAP Foundation) poll, but if you saw his poll, you’ll know that we will win. We have not gone out to campaign, we have done nothing, and PDP is leading us narrowly. We have not campaigned since 2019, but they have been campaigning. They have a sitting governor, they’ve been spending money, and the lead is still narrow. What happens if we go out and campaign? We will beat them.
“The poll says 37 per cent of Rivers people are undecided. What it means is that 37 per cent of them are waiting for you, because if they wanted to vote for PDP, they would have gone there since. They are waiting for you to come to them, talk to them and convince them, and they will join you, because there’s nothing new the PDP will offer them.
“We need to come back home and strategise on the way to go, and we will win,” Amaechi said.