The controversy trailing Pastor Tonye Cole’s consensus emergence has not died down as a group of Governorship aspirants numbering about 12- converged at a meeting where they all agreed to subject themselves into Council of Elders who should nominate a consensus candidate for APC Rivers state. It was learnt that Senator Magnus Abe was not present at this meeting and some other governorship aspirants and party leaders not loyal to the Minister of Transportation Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi were not present at the supposed meeting venue. Hence the rejection of the outcome of such alleged bias decision being taken by few allies of the Minister of Transportation. Before the decision to nominate Pastor Tonye Cole was taken, all the 10 Governorship aspirants plus two that later joined the meeting were asked to stay away until the wee hours of Thursday 22nd of April, 2022 when they were recalled into the meeting and the decision of the stakeholders announced to Amaechi and the 10-Governorship contestants.
Some of the Governorship aspirants present at the meeting included Prince Tonye Princewill, Dr. Dawari George, Dr. Sekonte Davies, Honourable Asita O. Asita, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, Ojukaye Flag Amachree et all.
One of most vocal agitators of free electoral participation APC members in Rivers Barrister Worgu Boms, a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice during Amaechi’s governorship administration has come out to condemn the emergence of Pastor Tonye Cole and the means and manner he was selected as a consensus candidate without Senator Magnus Abe’s group in APC being carried along.
With the purchase of Nomination and Intent Forms being sold to prospective elective office seekers, may lead to what transpired in 2019 when Supreme stopped APC in Rivers state from presenting and sponsoring candidates for the upcoming 2023 elections. For Amaechi led APC in Rivers state, Senator Magnus Abe and his followers who failed to revalidate their membership when it was conducted are no longer members of the party in the state. This is coming at a time when Senator Magnus Abe is the leader of Bola Ahmed Tinubu Support Vanguard in Rivers state. If Amaechi group succeed in making Senator Abe and his loyalists nonmembers of APC in Rivers state it will whittle down the purported supports Bola Ahmed Tinubu has in Rivers state as he is expected to defend Senator Abe and his group to vie for elective positions.