The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been playing second fiddle to the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State. The protracted disagreement between Transport Minister and former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and Senator Magnus Abe is one of the reasons why the party is not doing well. Many chieftains had hoped to see a candidate that would unite the party ahead of next year’s general election. But, the purported anointment of Lagos businessman, Tonye Cole for the governorship ticket may further jeopardise the party’s chances. Correspondent MIKE ODIEGWU reports
When the idea of a consensus governorship candidate was muted in the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stakeholders expected a more competitive, transparent, unbiased and independent process that would produce a widely acceptable aspirant. They argued that any candidate that would emerge from such negotiation must be a grassroots politician, loved by the people with the capacity and required structures across the state to match, thwart and dislocate the deep-rooted structures of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers.
They yearned for a David Lyon-like candidate that won the hearts of the Bayelsa electorate with his popularity in 2019 and roundly defeated the PDP at the poll. In fact, among the 10 riverine aspirants that emerged from the camp of the Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, many stakeholders prayed and fasted for a consensus that would produce Dr. Dakuku Peterside, Ojukaye Flag Amachree, Sokonte Davies or Dawari George as the party’s flag bearer.
But, the 19 wise men that Amaechi hurriedly put together on a committee and summoned to Abuja to deliberate on consensus and adopt a candidate for the party thought otherwise. The wise men chose Lagos-based billionaire businessman, Tonye Cole. Since the committee announced its decision, there has not been joy in Rivers APC; no jubilation and no congratulatory messages. The excitement and frenzy that would have ordinarily heralded the announcement of such magnitude have been missing. Most of the aspirants are quiet and their supporters are crying blue murder.
The aggrieved aspirants and their supporters felt betrayed by the process that produced Cole. The committee met, deliberated and used only two hours to take a crucial decision that would define the future of Rivers APC and perhaps that of the entire state. It was far beyond their expectation. It was more of a premeditated decision than a spontaneous outcome. Obviously, the leader wanted Cole from the outset and set up a process in an attempt to legitimise his decision. He didn’t want a repeat of the 2019 scenario when he was accused of bringing the same Cole from his left pocket to impose on the party.
Amaechi first asked all the aspirants interested in the governorship position to meet and harmonise their positions. He said a committee would be set up with the responsibility of making one of them a consensus candidate. Ten aspirants from the riverine area of Rivers met in Port Harcourt. They signed a communique to promote peace and unity; called for a riverine governor and promised to abide by the decision of the committee. Observers believed they worked into a trap laid by their leader.
The aspirants were asked to consult widely. They thought that they would have the opportunity to sell themselves to all party stakeholders, including the committee members. They were waiting to stand before the committee and sell their manifestoes. But, there was no such opportunity. The committee was set up in a twinkle, concluded its job in a jiffy and transmitted its decision with the speed of light to the aspirants and party faithful.
Even Cole acknowledged the reason for establishing the committee. In an acceptance message he penned to members of the party, he said: “As many of you would have learnt by now, 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 erroneously labelled as an imposition on the party by our leader, 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.”
Cole thanked the committee “for an unbiased assessment” that ended up putting him forward as the consensus candidate. He said: “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.”
But, beyond rhetorics, party stakeholders believe that the onus is not collective but personally resting on Cole to assert himself as a man worthy of the party’s ticket. He must initiate a wide, selfless and all-inclusive reconciliation that will calm frayed nerves and move aggrieved aspirants to appeal to their loyalists to support him. The party is still fragmented with Senator Magnus Abe commanding a significant number of loyalists. Cole lacks mass appeal and grassroots acceptance as most people see him as an outsider.
Indeed, Cole has no political structure to win his unit during an election. Even Amaechi’s structures that he depends on are directly controlled by some of the aspirants and other party chieftains. Initially, Amaechi’s largest structure was controlled by Abe. Little wonder when Abe pulled out, he was able to upset the political calculation of Amaechi. The second and third largest structures belong to Peterside and Ojukaye. Others owe their loyalty to Dawari George, Sokonte Davies and Prince Tonye Princewill.
Cole:
Tonye Patrick Cole, who hails from Abonnema in Rivers State, is the co-founder of one of Nigeria’s largest energy conglomerates, the Sahara Group, which operates in more than 38 countries with over 4000 employees and an annual turnover of $11bn. He is, no doubt the wealthiest among other contestants for the APC ticket, though he has been accused of being stingy. Cole ventured into politics for the first time in 2018 when he resigned his position in Sahara Group to emerge as the governorship candidate of the APC.
Though the APC could not contest the poll because of legal issues, Cole recently before he was selected by the Amaechi’s committee as a consensus candidate boasted that he was more prepared than before to seek the party’s ticket again. He said he acquired a lot of experience in 2019 and went further to add to his rich educational background by enrolling in studies on policies and governance in prestigious institutions.
Dr. Peterside:
A grassroots and popular politician, Dr Dakuku Peterside is the most politically exposed among all other aspirants in APC. No wonder his snub by the committee is yet to be absorbed by his supporters. He was a former Chairman, Opobo-Nkoro Local Government Area; Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Works; Commissioner for Works; member of the House of Representatives and the immediate past Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Peterside is the most vocal of all the aspirants, especially in criticising the administration of Governor Nyesom Wike, who defeated him in 2015. His exit at NIMASA created bad blood between him and Amaechi. The Transport Minister reportedly felt betrayed by some of the actions Peterside took to retain his NIMASA job. Peterside has since tried to re-establish his loyalty to Amaechi. He has been defending Amaechi’s policies and programmes within and outside Rivers. But, unknown to him, Amaechi has not forgiven him. Little wonder the minister did not consider him for the party’s ticket despite his efforts.
Other aspirants under Amaechi that were not considered by the committee are Dawari George, Ojukaye Flag Amachree, Ibinabo West, George Tolofari, Prince Tonye Princewill, Dr. Sokonte Davies, Biokpomabo Awara, Francis Ebenezer Ade and Mina Tende.
Dr. George:
Dr. Dawari Ibietela George’s name has constantly popped up as one of the loyal confidants of Amaechi. George, who hails from Kalabari, was a former member of the House of Representatives for Akuku-Toru/Asari-Toru Federal Constituency. He was a former Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources under the administration of former Governor Amaechi.
He contested the APC governorship ticket alongside billionaire-businessman, Tonye Dele Cole and other aspirants in 2019. He has been one of the loyal confidants of Amaechi and he currently serves as the Reconciliation Committee Chairman of the APC.
Amachree:
A grassroots politician, Ojukaye Flag Amachree, popularly called OJ by his friends hails from Buguma in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area. He became famous for his outstanding performance as the Chairman of the council for two tenures. A former youth activist and loyalist of Amaechi, Amachree emerged as the Chairman of the APC during the buildup for the 2019 general elections.
West:
Ibinabo Michael West fell out with his boss and Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, and defected to the APC to join Amaechi. Before his departure, he served as the Commissioner for Transport in Wike’s administration. He was a former member of the Rivers State House of Assembly where he served two tenures and was known for his Constituency projects and empowerment programmes.
Tolofari:
At the beginning of the current democratic dispensation in 1999, George Fubara Tolofari was elected into the House of Assembly where he served two tenures. He also served as the Commissioner for Transport under the administration of former Governor Chibuike Amaechi. He recently stood up for Amaechi when the former governor was accused by the government of abandoning the state’s aircraft in Germany for 10 years.
Princewill:
Though Prince Tonye Princewill has not held any political position in Rivers, the Prince of Kalabari Kingdom is known for causing upset in the political atmosphere of the state through his independent concepts and initiatives. He was the state’s governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress (AC) in 1999 but lost the election to the PDP’s candidate.
He instituted a case against the then Governor, Celestine Omehia but withdrew the matter when Omehia was sacked to support Amaechi. He formed a unity government with Amaechi but abandoned his party to officially join Amaechi in the PDP. He attempted to succeed Amaechi but was disqualified by the PDP in the buildup to the primaries that produced Wike.
He became the candidate of the Labour Party in 2015 but was roundly defeated by the PDP. In 2018, he was appointed the Director of Strategic Communication to the APC candidate, Tonye Cole, but the party’s participation in the 2019 poll was voided by the court.
Dr. Davies:
For eight years, from 2007 to 2015, Dr. Sokonte Davies actively represented the Degema/Bonny Federal Constituency at the National Assembly. He was a former Executive Director, Marine and Operations at the Nigeria Port Authority (NPA). Davies led the Amaechi’s faction of the APC that squared up against Senator Magnus Abe’s camp led by Igo Aguma at the peak of the legal tussle in the party.
Biokpomabo Awara:
Though he was the Project Coordinator of Belema Oil Producing, an indigenous oil firm based in Rivers, little was known about Biokpomabo Awara in the politics of Rivers until the 2019 governorship election. He was the candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) for the election but became popular when Amaechi and the disqualified APC adopted him as their candidate and attempted to use him to unseat Wike. He has since remained loyal to Amaechi.
Ade:
Rev. Francis Ebenezer Ade hails from Ogu Bolo Local Government Area of Rivers State and is one of the loyalists of Amaechi. He is the Executive Director of Finance and Administration (EDFA) Niger Delta Basin Authority.
Tende:
Mina Tende was once the Chairman Ogu-Bolo Local Government Area and has remained a grassroots politician since then. He has remained loyal to the transport minister.
All the aspirants who are known to be in Amaechi’s camp recently signed a pact to remain united and support any of them that emerged as the party’s candidate. Tolofari, who read a communique after their meeting asked the aspirants to go about their consultations in a peaceful way, devoid of name-calling, insults and pulling down of one another to gain attention.
The communique read: “The progressive aspirants agree that all aspirants should go about their consultations in a peaceful and civil manner. Avoid name-calling, insults and pulling down other aspirants to gain attention. Aspirants also agree to caution their supporters and social media aides from attacking aspirants from opposing camps.”
Abe:
Magnus Abe recently declared his ambition to contest the governorship poll on the platform of the APC. His declaration has caused some upset in the party. Undoubtedly, Abe is a huge bone stuck in the throat of Amaechi and the APC. Amaechi and the party have continually suffered setbacks and political misfortunes for mishandling Abe’s grievances.
Obviously, if Abe’s ambition is not properly managed, it could present a fresh obstacle for the party in 2023. Abe has become a household name in the state. While some vilify him and accuse him of playing a spoiler’s role, others praise him for courageously withstanding injustices in the state APC.
Indeed, Abe who hails from the Ogoni axis of the state has a rich political profile. He was a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly where he served as a Minority Leader. He defected to the PDP and served as a Commissioner for Information under former Governor Peter Odili’s administration.
Abe further served as the Secretary to the State Government under former Governor Amaechi. He was elected into the Senate to represent Rivers Southeast in 2011. He defected to the APC in 2014 and returned to the Senate in 2016 after a rerun poll.
During the recent inauguration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) Vanguard Excos in B-Dere Community, Rivers State in Gokana recently, Abe vowed to resist any plan by the party in the state to exclude in the nomination process. He also took a swipe at the 10 APC aspirants from the riverine area, who signed a pact demanding the party’s ticket to be zoned to the coastal area.
Abe said any plan devoid of a clean, clear and credible process to exclude him from clinching the governorship ticket of the APC and deny the teeming members of the party in the State from choosing their preferred candidate would definitely fail. He said Amaechi would not be allowed to anoint a candidate for the Brick House, adding that only Rivers people had the power to choose their next governor. He mocked the pact by governorship aspirants seeking a riverine governor and said such arrangements would not work.
He said: “I heard that some people gathered to say they are governorship candidates of the APC; they have reached a pact, that it is a riverine governor and that they have agreed to whatever they said, did you see me there? Will it work? We all know that it is not going to work. I don’t want to say anything about them because they are my friends and they have not done anything wrong, they are following somebody who has no plan, they are going to do thanksgiving when they have not put any plan on the ground in Rivers State that will help the APC to do better than it did the last time.
“It is wrong to drag God into what you are doing when you are not doing well. When you plan, you dedicate your plan to a dedication service; it is when you win, that you should have a thanksgiving service. I have not said that Senator Magnus Abe must be the candidate of the APC in Rivers State; I have always said and will repeat if we have a fair, free, equitable contest and somebody emerges from that process, I, Magnus Ngei Abe will support whoever emerges from such a process and the person will win.
“But, if you go and cook up a process, you are cooking up to exclude me, it is not me that you are excluding, they are excluding all of you, if they exclude all of you, will they win? They will not win, so it is not rocket science. We don’t need a riverine or upland candidate that is known to Amaechi. What we need is a Rivers candidate that is known by Rivers people with the capacity and integrity to deliver.
“That is why I, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, will contest for the gubernatorial ticket of the APC in Rivers State. Let me advise the party, we have been through this road many times. We should not make the same mistake again. There should be an end to political rascality in Rivers State, we should not disregard the people and expect a good result.”
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