Rivers PDP Chieftain Berates Tonye Cole over Comments on Fubara
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Princewill Dike, has berated the state governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Tonye Cole, over a statement credited to him describing state gubernatorial candidate of PDP, Siminialayi Fubara, as a man who could not defend himself in words.
Dike, who is the secretary, New Media Directorate of the PDP Campaign Council, defended Fubara is a man of action, assuring the state of his victory in the March 11 election in the state.
The PDP chieftain was reacting to Cole’s invitation to Fubara to address Rivers people on radio or television promising to foot the bills.
Dike said instead of criticising the PDP candidate, Cole should rather face his alleged criminal charges in court.
“Nothing can be more hilarious or should we say ludicrous than that public dramatisation. Must everybody be loquacious? Does speaking on radio or television make a good political leader?
“Unlike Cole, Fubara is a man of few words, but action filled. The great Abraham Lincoln of evergreen memory asserts that ‘actions speak louder than words’. Back home, our own Kongi, Prof. Wole Soyinka in the Lion and the Jewel opines that the strength of the lion is not in its mien but in the tail,” he added.
Dike said Cole should dissipate his energy explaining how he became a billionaire and furnishing details of how he used his company, Sahara Energy, to purchase state assets such as the Olympic Hotel, the gas turbine among others at the expense of the people.
The PDP chieftain said: “Is Cole oblivious of the self-imposed moral baggage on him by that shady acquisition, which in itself has made him not fit and proper to superintend over our commonwealth?
“Should he be balloted for, need one be a Jewish prophet or Nostradamus who saw tomorrow to prognosticate that our commonwealth will be converted to his personal estate?
“If he does not explain to Rivers people what happened to those assets, he will remain a painted sepulchre with a rotten thing inside, in the public perception of him.”
Dike further argued that Fubara remained poles ahead of Cole in popularity, explaining that while the APC candidate is an alien, his PDP counterpart is a thoroughbred Rivers man.
He said: “Fubara grew up here, had all his schoolings here, worked here, retired here, and joined active politics here. He is a Port Harcourt home boy, and a grassroots fellow.
Besides, Dike said Fubara had an added advantage over Cole following the excellent performance of the state PDP under Governor Nyesom Wike.
“Cole is, therefore, struggling for acceptance and popularity in Rivers State, and as such, has resorted to doing to Fubara what the Ubima would say: ‘If they have nothing to say against a beautiful person, they tell him to go and bathe’,” he said.
