By Nwaorgu
Faustinus
A
frontline Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress APC, in Rivers State
Prince Tonye Princewill has thrown his weight behind the emergence of Architect
and businessman, Tonye Cole as the consensus candidate of the party, but
without mix feeling as according to him, “I was looking forward to leading the
APC into battle with PDP in 2023, so to say I’m happy today, 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, so 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.”
Continuing he said, “The decision
has now been made for him to fly the flag. It was not made by the Minister. It
was made by leaders of the party. The 10 aspirants plus two (2) new names that
had also indicated interest were politely asked to excuse themselves, while all
the 13 leaders present, minus the Minister, then sat and deliberated. We were
called back along with the Minister a few hours later, to be given their
decision. While we didn’t go into the details of the parameters for their
decision, we respect their judgement and wisdom in arriving at it. Politics is
a process, it can be brutal, but it is what it is, while we are what we are.”
“To all those who supported me, I
want you to think of what I represent and why; that means that we need change
here in Rivers state. We began this consultation because we wanted to hear your
voices, that listening ear will never ever change” Princewill said
“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 here in Rivers state. In the
coming days, I will introduce my team to Tonye Cole personally and show him how
important you are to me. He and I share a lot in common and he too is committed
to lifting people up. Let’s help him to help us,” he appealed.
“Let God’s will take preeminence
in our lives and may His light continue to shine on His people’’ Princewill
prayed.
In his address to Rivers APC
following his emergence as the consensus candidate, Architect Tonye Cole
thanked the Committee for an unbiased assessment that ended up putting him
forward as the consensus candidate.
Excerpt of the Address to
Rivers APC
Good morning my dear APC family.
As many of you would have learnt by now, our great party has adopted me as the
consensus candidate for the 2023 Gubernatorial 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 erroneously labeled
as an imposition on the Party by our leader, Rt. Honourable Chibuike Rotimi
Amaechi.
To avoid any such controversies
this time around, 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 analyze 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.
To achieve the above purpose, all
12 aspirants were invited to a meeting on Friday 22nd April, where 19 key party
elders and leaders, including the party Chairman Chief Emeka Beke, were tasked
to arrive at a consensus candidate for the party. Some others present included
Sen. Andrew Uchendu, Chief Sam Sam Jaja, Chief Victor Giadom, HE Amb. Oji
Ngofa, HE Amb. Maureen Tamuno, HE Aleruchi Cookey-Gam, Hon. Onari Brown, Hon
George Tolofari to name a few. The Honourable Minister categorically stated
that the committee was fully at liberty to arrive at any aspirant they deemed
best suited and he would abide by their recommendation.
All aspirants affirmed an earlier
signed declaration to stand by any candidate the Party endorses and the
Committee asked all of us, including the Honourable Minister, to depart for our
various houses until a decision was made. About two and a half hours later, we
were called back to the venue of the meeting to get the verdict.
I want to use this medium to thank
the Committee for an unbiased assessment that ended up putting me forward as
the consensus candidate. I am not in any doubt that it took tremendous bravery
for them to make this decision in the face of serious pressure, especially as
my co-aspirants are all imminently qualified for the job. I want to thank all
the aspirants for their magnanimous attitude and pledge of support to me and
loyalty to the party.
I am very mindful that it could
just as easily be any one of them speaking to you in my place right now. For
this reason, I am humbled by the incredible burden laid upon my shoulders to
unite the party and reassure everyone, especially the other aspirants and those
aggrieved by this decision that I will work assiduously for an all inclusive
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
forthcoming 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.
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