Rivers APC has picked Tony Cole as the consensus Governorship Candidate ahead of the 2023 elections.
Glamtush reports that former group Executive Director of Sahara Group, Tonye Cole has emerged as the consensus governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Rivers State.
This online news platform understands that Cole emerged the consensus candidate after a meeting by party leaders, late Friday night.
Ten governorship aspirants from the riverine extraction, including Tonye Princewill and Dr. Dakuku Peterside had signed a pact to support whoever emerges amongst them.
Cole was the party’s candidate in the state in 2019, though the APC was excluded from the ballot by INEC following a court order after a series of litigations by opposing camps of both Senator Magnus Abe and Rotimi Amaechi.
Confirming the party’s choice in a statement on Saturday morning, a chieftain of the party and one of the aspirants, Tonye Princewill, said Cole was picked not by Amaechi but the party’s leadership.
The statement read, “The decision has just been made for Tonye Cole to fly the flag. It was not made by the Minister.
“It was made by the leaders of the party. The 10 aspirants plus two new names that had also indicated interest were asked to excuse themselves, while all of the leaders minus the Minister then sat and deliberated.
“We were just called back along with the Minister to be given their decision.”
