A former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, has said the political feud in the state has pushed the state backwards by about 20 years.
NEWSNGR reports that Cole stated this on Friday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
He said the prolonged dispute had deepened divisions in the state and called for a broad-based effort to rebuild Rivers beyond party affiliations.
The APC chieftain said he had begun reaching out to political actors and other stakeholders across different camps in an attempt to resolve grievances and promote unity.
Cole said, “I am one of those that have reached out across the board to different people, calling them and saying to them that, look, we have fought a fight that has left Rivers State further back 20 years than we have ever been in our entire history as a state.
“And this is one of the times when we now must all come together to build a new Rivers State.”
Cole maintained that the rebuilding process must involve competent people from all political parties rather than being controlled by one group.
According to him, the interests of the state should take priority over political differences.
He further stated, “We have to do that across party lines. We don’t care whether you are PDP, whether you are APC, whether you are ADC, whether you are NDC.
“What we care about now is that Rivers State has to seek the best from everywhere, bring them together, and let us forge a master plan that allows us to move forward.”
He argued that political division and confrontation had failed to produce meaningful development in the state.
“Because we have tried the division, we have tried the fighting, and that has failed. So, how do we move the state forward? And that’s where we are,” Cole added.
The former governorship candidate said efforts were being made to bring aggrieved parties together and secure a common commitment to the state’s progress.
“So we are reaching out to all aggrieved parties, and we are bringing everybody together to say, you know what? Can we agree that we now need to move Rivers State forward?” he said.
Cole warned that failure to reconcile the different political camps could plunge Rivers into another damaging round of conflict.
He added, “The only way to do that is to bring the best from all the camps and let us put ourselves together so that we can deliver a new Rivers State.
“That is how we build this new state. If not, we’re going into another very bitter division, which will not progress us.”
