By Abiola Olawale
In a striking revelation, Tony Cole, the 2023 governorship candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, has exposed the huge, minimum financial demands necessary to run for a governorship aspirant to contest Governorship election in a state, especially Rivers State.
He asserted that any individual aspiring to contest in the gubernatorial election must be prepared to invest a staggering minimum of N12 billion naira.
Although he did not reveal the specific amount of money he spent during the lead-up to the 2023 governorship election, Cole emphasized that securing victory in a Nigerian election requires a substantial financial investment.
He stated: “If you don’t put a minimum of 12 to 15 billion naira, you can’t even begin to survive. If you don’t put that, that’s to run, you’re just scratching the surface.
“I found myself that I started spending towards all of this in January 2022 before the primaries. For me, looking at it, the elections were going to hold in 2023 my experience began January 2022 towards all of this, including the primaries, it was very expensive.
“I think there are three phases of expense that you have to pay. The first aspect of it is getting to the primaries and coming out as a candidate.
“Quite a bit of money, quite a bit of money. Some states are just way, way, way too expensive, and River State is one of them.”
The New Diplomat reports that Cole, in 2018 resigned from his executive roles in multibillionaire oil sector including Sahara Energy to enter politics, contesting for the governorship of Rivers State under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 elections.
Although his party was disqualified from the ballot due to legal issues, he re-emerged as APC’s gubernatorial candidate in the 2023 elections, where he lost to the incumbent, Governor Siminalayi Fubara of the People’s Democratic Party(PDP).
Born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on January 11, 1967, Cole pursued architecture, working in Brazil before returning to Nigeria.
Cole is a notable Nigerian entrepreneur, philanthropist, and politician known for his significant contributions to both the business landscape and the social sector in Nigeria. He is a scion of the famous Ambassador Patrick Dele Cole, former Nigerian Ambassador to Brazil.
He is the co-founder and former Group Executive Director of Sahara Group, an energy conglomerate that operates across the entire energy chain in Africa and beyond.
