Wike: You Cannot Have A Situation Where One Individual Dictates For 7M People Who Should Be Gov-Cole

 

Tonye Cole, a former governorship candidate, has spoken out against what he described as growing political control in Rivers State during an interview on Arise TV. He said democracy in the state is being weakened because many major political actors are no longer free to express themselves openly.

According to him, the situation has created an environment where key political figures, including supporters in both the PDP and APC, feel unable to speak their minds or challenge decisions. He claimed that instead of open debate, many now simply agree with powerful voices in the background.

Cole expressed concern that one person has too much influence over political decisions affecting millions of people in the state. He argued that no single individual should be able to determine who becomes governor, senator, or holds other major offices without public disagreement or accountability.

He said this kind of arrangement is unhealthy for democracy and insisted that political freedom must be protected. Cole added that silence from political actors does not reflect true democratic practice and warned against allowing such control to continue.

He concluded that people must resist any system where power is concentrated in the hands of one individual, stressing that leadership decisions should reflect the will of the people, not the influence of a single figure.

In his words, “You cannot and you must not have a situation where only one individual dictates for 7 million people, who should be governor, who should be senator and nobody can say anything.”