Tonye Cole Pledges to Create 230,000 Jobs in First 100 Days in Office

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tonye Cole has vowed to create 230, 000 jobs for young people in the 23 local government areas in the state if elected in this weekend’s election.

The Rivers APC gubernatorial standard bearer said his government when elected, would curb the alarming unemployment rating of the state.

He also promised to create an enabling environment for companies and investors to return to the state as a way to create more jobs and enhance the dwindling revenue profile of Rivers State.

Cole, made the promises, while responding to questions during a programme monitored on Channels Television.

The Rivers APC gubernatorial hopeful decried lack of investment in agriculture in the last eight years over alleged hostile investment environment in the state.

He assured that his government would redesign a legal framework and grants tax holidays as a way to encourage fleeing oil and gas companies and investors back to the state.

“Within the first 100 days in office, one of the things that we have determined is that we will be creating at least, in each of the local government areas, we will be looking at 10,000 jobs that will be created almost immediately.

“But outside of that is creating the right environment that will then make jobs attractive for people who have the ideas to come into the state to develop and we have to do this in two ways.

“The first aspect of it is to give a comfort around the legal framework that enables people to come into the state to develop jobs.

“So we will be giving tax incentives, we will be giving the incentives around the certificate of occupancy of the state. One thing that we have discovered today is that Rivers State certificate of occupancy is no longer accepted within banks because it had lost value,” he added.

Cole said if elected, he would develop two additional cities within the Riverine and upland communities and build them around the areas of agriculture and technology.

“Within the three Senatorial Districts that we have, one of those cities will be developed within the Riverine communities, one of the other cities will be developed within the upload areas of the Orashi, Ogoni axis. We will be looking at where agriculture logistics and development is prime.

“The second one will be within the Riverine communities where we will do technology, because that is the best way for us to improve the development of the Riverine communities”.