Tonye Cole, the APC gubernatorial candidate for Rivers State in the 2023 election, has obtained the All Progressives Congress N50 million governorship nomination forms as he moves to contest the 2027 Rivers State governorship election.
Cole, a businessman and co-founder of Sahara Group, had previously flown the APC flag in the 2023 Rivers governorship race but lost to the incumbent governor, Siminalayi Fubara, whose victory was later upheld by the Court of Appeal. His latest move formalises his long-signalled ambition to take another shot at the top job in the oil-rich South-South state in 2027.
His decision to pick up the forms comes amid continuing realignments and internal jostling within the Rivers APC over control of the party structure and the choice of its next governorship candidate. Party stakeholders have been split between rival camps and legal disputes in recent years, a factor that previously weakened the APC’s position in the state.
Cole has repeatedly said he remains committed to the APC and has no intention of leaving the party despite overtures from other platforms and calls for him to switch camps ahead of 2027. With his nomination now formalised, attention is expected to turn to how the party manages its primaries and whether it can rally behind a single candidate ahead of a potentially contentious governorship contest.
