Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has wondered why Tonye Cole, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and not his lawyers or agents, is the one going to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office to collect certified true copies (CTC) of electoral materials.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Government Secondary School in Kpor Community of Gokana Local Government Area on Tuesday, Governor Wike stated that Tonye Cole lost the governorship election undoubtedly.

Wike described the show of desperation by Tonye Cole, by not allowing his lawyers to do their duties, as suggestive of a sinister motive that should not be waved away but queried.

While urging Cole to come out clean so that people would know his intentions, Governor Wike also dismissed as baseless the allegations raised by him against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that they attacked him and prevented him from accessing the INEC office in Port Harcourt.

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“Have you seen where a candidate is going to INEC to collect certified true copies (CTC)? What are your lawyers doing? What are your agents doing?  These are the duties of lawyers. What CTC do you want to collect?

“Can’t people see the truth of the matter, you’ve lost the election. Even if they cancel the election 25 thousand times in this State, you cannot win us (PDP) in this State. Let the truth be told.”

Wike said already, proactive measures are taken to ensure that APC is not allowed the liberty to repeat what it did in 2015 when it manipulated the Nigeria Police to tender results at the tribunal that truncated the will of the people.

The governor reiterated that APC as a political party is dead in Rivers State, therefore, cannot win any election. According to him, this was manifested in the last election as Tonye Cole could not win any legislative seat for his party.

He boasted that everybody knows who was behind the bulk vote that Bola Tinubu got from Rivers State, and he owes nobody any apology for supporting the emergence of a southern presidency.

Wike explained that because of the popularity of PDP in Rivers State, owing to its excellent performance, the party won all three senatorial seats, 11 House of Representatives seats, and all 32 state House of Assembly seats.

The governor wondered why Cole would think that Rivers people will give him their mandate when he is already facing prosecution over the diversion of $50M proceeds from the sale of state assets to Sahara Energy.

Wike described as laughable the decision of the governorship candidate of the Accord Party, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, and that of the Labour Party, Beatrice Itubo, to approach the election tribunal to contest the election results.

He said these candidates were not opponents in the election but were only desirous to be on the ballot.

Wike, who commended his counterpart of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, for supporting equity, fairness, and justice, said PDP lost the chance of winning the presidential election due to impunity and arrogance.

Inaugurating the project, Governor Ortom commended Governor Wike for sustaining his delivery of quality projects, working in synergy with his cabinet that is impacting positively on Rivers people.