- Says Politicians pursuing selfish interests
By Kolawole Ojebisi
A former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, has said politicans in the state are pursuing their vested interests stressing that there is no longer any political party in the state.
Cole, an ally of former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who stated this during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Friday night maintained that a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state can be a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) or vice versa.
He added that the very foundation of the political parties in the country had been eroded.
Cole said: “I wish Rivers State is being talked about regarding progressives development, inventions and innovations; things that are progressing Nigeria and putting it forward. We just seem to be talking all the time about the political crises that seem to be unending.
“There were a lot of anti-party activities going there. Everybody saw that. The sad news for me in this anti-party thing is that it has eroded the whole foundation of all political parties.
“Today what you see is that political parties don’t exist for who they are; anybody can be anywhere. You are in the PDP but running for the APC; you are in the APC but running for the PDP. That is totally wrong.
“I suspect that what Rivers is doing today is showing the entire nation that this kind of thing can’t continue. At some point, they have to stand for something.
“Truly the way we look at political parties in Rivers State is that there is no political party anymore. Everybody is just pushing for a single political interest. And they can stand wherever that interest is going to pay them. You can truly be a card carrying member of the PDP and you are moving in Rivers State with the APC and it’s okay Nobody will say anything.
“Nobody knows which party you are. A PDP member is an APC member and an APC member is a PDP member. It does not make sense. It is too much of personal interest and it is eroding the political fabric of the nation.”
The supremacy battle between incumbent governor, Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, in Rivers State has polarized politicans in the state.
Wike, who still claims to be a PDP member, is serving in Tinubu’s administration elected on the platform of the APC. The battle has even factionalized lawmakers in the State Assembly.
