“Dehumanising of Our Traditional Institutions Must Stop” ~Tonye Cole

The Campaign trail of the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress for the 2023 General Election stormed Eleme LGA yesterday amidst applause and tumultuous welcome of party faithfuls and supporters. Thugs and hoodlums sent by the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike, and Chairman of Eleme LGA, Mr. Obarilomate Ollor, who had earlier threatened to disrupt and derail the rally were repelled and disarmed by law enforcement agents leading to a smooth and successful event yesterday.

The campaign trail led by the governorship candidate of the party, Arch. Pst. Tonye Cole, went on to tour the nooks and crannies of the LGA, engaging strategic stakeholders across the length and breadth of the LGA, with special visit to Ekporo Community, destroyed by communal crises several years ago and abandoned by the Rivers State Government. Appalled and deeply saddened by the realities of the indigenes of that community living as internally displaced persons and refugees in their own state, Arc. Pst. Tonye Cole promised to immediately restore the indigenes to their homeland as soon as he takes over the Brick House as governor.

While engaging with traditional rulers of the LGA, the incoming governor decried the rate of internally displaced Communities in Rivers State and the lack of respect for communities and traditional institutions by the current governor of the State. In his words, the incoming governor said, “The respect for traditional institutions is something that we must uphold, and not just to uphold, but we must work with you because you’re the closest institution to the people. You’re there with them, you grew up with them, you know the pain of the community, you know what the community needs, and if we’re going to develop as a state, we must find a way to bring the respect to our communities. Today, most traditional institutions are afraid of having meetings like this because we have a State that terrorises the institutions. They warn them, they threaten to take their staff of office from them, and they abuse them. Such dehumanising of our traditional institutions must stop, because if you do that it means you’re dehumanising the people that they represent”.

The leader of the APC in Eleme LGA and Senatorial Candidate of the party for Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, His Excellency, Chief Hon. Amb. Oji Ngofa, who hosted the rally said Eleme is the ancestral home of the APC in Rivers State as it was the first LGA to launch the party in the state and also one of the only LGAs where the party has never lost any election. While taking us through his meritorious service as Council Chairman of the LGA and reeling out several benefits of the LGA under the administration of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the former Nigerian Ambassador to the Royal Kingdom of Netherlands said, “Eleme has not seen evidence that Nyesom Wike’s government exist in Eleme LGA. The only road they came to flag off few weeks ago, I can tell you with all Authority that that road is sponsored by Ndorama Petrochemical. So why would any discerning and decent Eleme man or woman not be in APC?”

Various leaders of the party also took turns to speak in what was an exciting and exhilarating experience. Our party supporters are well prepared and motivated to mobilise the grassroot to vote our fantastic arrays of candidates across various elections coming up in the following weeks.