By Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
It is now clear that the battle for the soul of Rivers State is not over yet, as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last governorship election, Tonye Cole, has taken a bolder step towards claiming his alleged mandate.
Despite garnering 95,274 votes to finish behind his PDP counterpart, Siminalayi Fubara, who was announced winner of the governorship election with 302,614 votes, Cole believes he won the contest but was robbed.
And he seems not to be in a hurry to give up his quest for justice, as he has now taken his case to the Appeal Court, Abuja, to challenge the judgment of the Rivers State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal that dismissed his suit against Fubara’s victory.
TPCN gathered that all the parties in the case, including Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his party, the PDP, have been served notice of the appeal.
The Rivers APC spokesman, Darlington Nwauju, has confirmed Tonye Cole’s recent move, adding that the filing at the Appeal Court has been completed, with a number assigned to the suit.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, Nwauju explained: “The records of this particular matter (Tonye Cole’s appeal at the Appeal Court) have been compiled and transmitted and a suit number allocated.”
The Rivers APC spokesman expressed optimism that his party would get justice at the Appeal Court, to assuage the pains and casualties its members suffered during the exercise.
“We do pray and hope that the court of appeal and indeed the judiciary will be able to serve justice to the people of Rivers State and to the memories of all those who were killed for following and supporting the APC. We pray we would get justice from the court,” Nwauju said.
Tonye Cole had earlier assured members of the APC in Rivers State and all his supporters of his resolve not to give up until he claims the mandate he believes Rivers people gave to him during the March 18, 2023 governorship election.
However, at the time of this report, Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Rivers PDP camp have not responded to this latest move by Cole.
