LIVE UPDATES
Tonye Cole, an APC candidate for governor of Rivers State, has provided an explanation for why he snubbed a visit to Bola Tinubu during the latter's visit to the state to dedicate projects.
Cole gave a number of explanations for his absence from the inauguration, including carelessness and Governor Nyesom Wike's casual attitude.
According to The PUNCH, Tinubu visited the state on Wednesday at Wike's invitation to officially open the Rumuokwuta/Rumuola flyover in Port Harcourt. There, he praised Wike as a man of integrity who put the good of the country before his own interests.
The Interview with Arise TV...
In an interview with Arise Television on Thursday, the APC governorship candidate made this statement and added that Wike, if he truly wanted the state chapter to be a part of the program, should have told them.
"I'll tell the visit from two perspectives, he declared. The incoming president is on the front side of it.
"He has the freedom to go wherever because he is the President-elect of Nigeria. We have no issues at all with the fact that the Rivers State Government invited him and that he accepted the invitation by traveling to Rivers State in his capacity as President-elect.
"The issue is that Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, also needs to represent all Rivers citizens.
"And if he was inviting the President-elect, who is the President-elect of all Nigerians, one of the things he ought to have done was phone the APC in Rivers State to let us know that he was inviting the President-elect and that he wanted us to be a part of the program.
"Neither our party, the APC, nor I were ever invited personally, nor were we invited in our official capacity as a candidate for the party in the State to any of those activities;
"I think that's the difference between Governor Wike acting in his capacity as governor of just a certain Rivers people and the President-elect acting in his capacity as President-elect for all Nigerians. Our differences lie there," he said.
