The Rivers State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 elections, Tonye Cole, has advised embattled Governor Siminalayi Fubara to sit down with the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, ‘to appeal for freedom’ to make certain decisions given the current power arrangement in the State.
Cole lamented that the current political arrangement has left Fubara in an “extremely difficult situation.”
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Morning Brief’ on Wednesday morning, Cole reflected on the recurring challenge of succession politics in Nigeria, where outgoing governors often install successors who later struggle for full independence.
“The governor will be finding himself in extremely difficult situation. The way politics has played out in Nigeria, every governor leaving office looks out to choose someone who can continue his agenda moving forward. But time and time again, we find out that where the new governor is left alone to run his administration, then things kind of progress.”
He lamented that when political godfathers insist on controlling their successors, democracy suffers and the people bear the brunt.
“When you see that this doesn’t happen, almost always, they end up in this godfather situation, and it’s never been good for democracy. Everywhere fight has occurred, the people have suffered a lot more,” he stated.
Cole, who contested against Fubara in the 2023 governorship race, said the suspended Rivers State governor appeared to have been boxed into a corner in preparation to fully resume his duties after the expiration of the State of Emergency
“My prayer is that as he comes back — because we don’t know what we’re going to see starting from tomorrow — the one thing that we are sure about is that the governor is not in a position to make any decision,” he observed.
Pressed on what he would do if he were in Fubara’s shoes, Cole was clear in his response. “What I would do if I were him, is to sit down with the Honourable Minister and appeal for a leeway to allow certain decisions to be made by me as governor and others to be made by him,” he advised.
He further noted that the details of the peace pact that reconciled Fubara and Wike remained unknown, making it unclear how much authority the governor still retains.
“The truth is that, we do not know the details of whatever peace agreement they had. We cannot tell the extent or the limit of the powers that he has now,” Cole stated.
