Tonye Cole blames Wike for his absence during Tinubu’s visit to Rivers

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tonye Cole has blamed the state governor, Nyesom Wike for his absence during Bola Tinubu’s visit to the state.

Wike, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor had invited the president-elect to his state to commission some projects on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. 

During the ceremony, Cole and members of the APC were absent while Wike, a chieftain of the opposition party treated Tinubu to a warm reception.

Explaining the reason he was absent, Cole while speaking in an interview on Arise TV on Thursday, May 4, 2023, said the state governor did not invite him to the inauguration ceremony. 

He said Tinubu has the right to honour Wike’s invitation because he is the president-elect of all Nigerians.

He added that the governor should have also informed him and the APC in Rivers state that he was inviting Tinubu to commission projects, but he did not.

“I will describe the visit from two sides. First side of it is the President-elect. As a President-elect of Nigeria, he has the right to go anywhere. And the Rivers State Government invited him, and he has come, honoured that invitation, and has come to Rivers State as a President-elect; with that, we have no problem at all”, Cole said.

“Where the issue is is that the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, ought also to be the governor of all Rivers people. And one of the things that he should have done if he is inviting the President-elect, who is the President-elect of all Nigerians, would have been to call us as APC in Rivers State to inform us that he is inviting the President-elect and would want us to be part of that programme.

“We never got any invitation, I was never invited personally, I was not invited in my private capacity as a candidate of the party, neither was our party, APC, in the State invited to any of those things and I believe that is where the difference between the President-elect acting in his capacity as President-elect for all Nigerians and Governor Wike acting in his capacity as a governor of just a particular Rivers people. That is where our disagreement stands.”

Meanwhile, Wike while hosting Tinubu expressed his disagreement with the belief that the 2023 presidential election that produced the former governor of Lagos State was rigged. 

He said it’s not fair to say the election was rigged because Tinubu lost in Lagos and some governors also lost in their states.