After 20 Years of Upland Governors, It’s Time To Replace Wike with a Riverine Governor – APC Chieftain

For those who know him, his astuteness, pungency, humaneness, sagacity, and versatility endear him to virtually everyone he interacts with from the commoners to elite. Though soft-spoken, George Fubara Tolofari, a former member of the Rivers State House of Assembly and former Commissioner for Transport, who commands a strong following across political divides, elucidates on politics, governance and trending issues in the polity with panache, dexterity and forthrightness. 

In this interview with Kristina Reports Editor-in-Chief, Godswill Jumbo, Tolofari, who is the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bonny Local Government Area, takes more than a cursory look at unfolding developments in the political space, his party’s quest to oust the current occupant of Brick House, Port Harcourt, and the candidates they intend to field for both the House of Assembly and House of Representatives positions, among other issues. Enjoy the excerpts:  

Kristina Reports: As we keep watching the political space, developments and trending issues; we look at your local government, Bonny and how your party, the APC in the area factors into the federal constituency, senatorial district and then the larger space, which is the Brick House, the State Government. How are you and your party preparing for the 2019 elections? 

George Tolofari: By the grace of God, when we look at developments in the state and the local government area where we are right now, I feel that a lot of people are tired of PDP, they are disgruntled; a lot of them, especially party members. Since I came in (to Bonny) on Tuesday we have been having series of stakeholders engagements telling the people about the forthcoming primaries, whether direct or indirect and all of that. I read in the news today that the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole has hearkened to the wishes of the governors to decide which they want, whether direct or indirect primaries. I also read a news item where his own state, where he came from, that’s the national chairman, has opted for indirect primaries. So, with the news coming out today (Friday, September 21, 2018), I think that issue has been finally put to rest because there was a lot of debate about it.

Now, coming to Bonny, you see that, obviously, a lot of people are not happy with the system. Like in PDP in my local government area, Ajama, who is the overall leader, has taken over the political space, not allowing inputs of other leaders and all of that. Just him and his own team, and they are not happy about that; and as a result of that a lot of them have been coming to us and talking with that they want to cross over. Since I came in, we have been talking to them and we are planning a rally where they will come out and declare for the APC. You look at the state, people are not happy. Politicians are not happy. Other political officeholders are not happy because one person has shut out everybody else. So, at that level too they are not happy.

So, with all of these and with the aspirant we have chosen with a fantastic track record, that is Arc. Tonye Dele Cole; that is the person as a party we have decided to support for the primaries. So, we are waiting for the primaries. Of course, outside Tonye Dele Cole, we have other aspirants but Tonye Cole is our choice.

KR: When you say ‘we’, do you mean…are you referring to APC, Bonny LGA or APC, Rivers State?

GT: APC, Bonny LGA will file in behind Arc. Tonye Dele Cole. This is because the leadership of the party at the State has decided that it is Arc. Tonye Dele Cole and so APC, Bonny cannot be left out of such a decision but to toe along that decision.

KR: Was this a decision taken by the leadership caucus or…. 

GT: Yes, sure, sure. It was taken by the leadership of which I am part of. The names of aspirants were tabled before us and we debated and took a decision and finally decided on Tonye to support him. So, that we took the decision to support Tonye Dele Cole does not mean other persons cannot run. Even me, as a leader, I must have sympathy for someone. So, we have come together before that decision was made and had decided that we need to wait out the candidates. We looked at the candidates before making a decision. So, the leadership at that level has taken that decision not because other aspirants are not good but you see when you have two persons, when you have three persons, when you ten or twenty persons and the position is just one, you must pick one of the lot, and the lot fell on Tonye. So, part of the stakeholders meetings we had on Tuesday we decided that for the presidency, we will support President Muhammadu Buhari, for the Senate we will support Hon. Asita O. Asita, for the House of Representatives we want to support Fubara Hart, and for the House of Assembly we have decided to support Dabota Godswill Jumbo. And of course, she was the only person that declared an interest that she was going to run. Well, of course there was Abinye Green but by the time Abinye Green came out Dabota had gone far. But we were able to talk to him and prevail on him to step down for Dabota and which was what he did.

And I can tell you that it is looking very good for us because, like I said, what is happening in PDP, that they are not happy, they are disgruntled. They are not happy with the way the party is being run at the LGA. Also, the way the party is being run at the state, and all of that.  I think there will be a lot of sympathy votes. If you look at the Degema/Bonny federal constituency, we are supposed to do a second term 
Bonny is supposed to do a second term and that is why we picked a Bonny man but now we are hearing that they want to drop our own son for somebody from the Degema axis, Farah Dagogo. If that happens, of course, Bonny people will not be happy. There will be a lot of sympathy votes on our side.

KR: Looking at the individuals you have mentioned that you want to support during your primaries, what can you say about their pedigree? Are these people that the Bonny people can count on to deliver the dividends of political office?

GT: Exactly, exactly. Bonny people are excited that we are bringing out a woman to vie for that position. The person currently occupying the office is a disaster, so to speak. In fact, even his own people, leave APC people, his own people don’t want to hear his name mentioned. And they have said that any person we bring to contest for that position that they would vote for that candidate instead of vote for their own candidate. And Dabota is a grassroots woman; on her own she has done several programmes with women, with widows and all of that for several years now. She has an outreach that has reached out to so many people. She knows her onions. She is going to give us proper and adequate representation when she gets there.

And for the other man that is going for the Degema/Bonny federal constituency, Fubara Hart. Fubara art, of course, was a civil servant that has put in 35 solid years in the civil service. He is coming in with lots of experience. So, these two candidates will make the difference.

KR: For your House of Reps consensus candidate, there are concerns that aside being a civil servant, there is hardly any aspect of Bonny that people can say he has engaged with the people in any way whether socially, politically or any other way… 

GT: (Cuts in) No, that’s not true. Fubara Hart is a grassroots person. He was born here, grew up here and all of that; he has touched a lot of lives in the course of his job in the civil service. He even has a house in the village. So, I don’t agree with people who say he has not touched lives. I don’t think it’s right.

KR: Based on your postulations that these people win this election, what would be the social contract that Bonny people can hold on to in their expectations post 2019? 

GT: Adequate representation, I think that should enough. Adequate representation, in fact, covers everything on the job, you understand. And they have assured that they are going to go there and give us adequate representation. And with their experience too…like Dabota, she has been in the banking sector for long before she resigned to pursue her private businesses, politics and these her outreach programmes and all of that. Fubara Hart too, a civil servant that has put in 35 years in service. So, their experience will come in handy.

KR: Recently, your state party chairman, Ojukaye Flag Amachree has been making statements in the media about matching violence with violence and whatever antics Wike wants to deploy like he did in 2015 that the APC will respond to that. Isn’t that the same narrative?  

GT: Thank God you said the violence that PDP perpetrated in 2015. You know in 2015, we came out for one man, one vote but PDP had a different plan to rig the elections using militants and all of that and we have said to them that that is not right and that should not be done. But like you see what is happening and his party people are saying you leave us all to suffer and you are empowering militants. Why is he doing that? It’s because he wants to use them to perpetrate violence. So, Ojukaye is simply just to warn him. You see, no one man has the monopoly of violence. On that day, we will allow the grassroots to vote, to come out and cast their votes in fairness and in peace. Don’t chase people away. Allow people to vote according to their conscience. We are saying that we will resist any attempt to intimidate voters and cast his or her vote. That is just what we are saying.

KR: Doesn’t that sound like encouraging violence? What if the same purveyors of violence decide to repeat their act like in 2015?

GT: Let me ask a question. Will I sit and fold my arms and allow someone to kill me? I have to fight and defend myself. We are just simply telling them no to violence. Let us all come out as Rivers people and vote freely. Don’t disenfranchise anybody.

KR: Against this background, what is the APC doing to sensitize the people about having an aversion to violence and casting their votes freely.

GT: We are doing a lot as a party. We are also calling on the federal government and all the agencies responsible for security to be up to their game and ensure safety and security for the people. 

KR: Recently, just a few days ago, the APC in Rivers State came with the riverine governorship issue. What is the motivation behind this political narrative? 

GT: After 20 years we believe we are ripe to have a riverine governor and that is why we are considering riverine candidates and I believe that because in the last 20 years the governors have been coming from the upland. So, when that clamour started gathering momentum I knew that something was going to come out of it.