According to Punch Newspaper, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, prominent All Progressives Congress chieftain and 2027 governorship aspirant in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, has announced his withdrawal from the race for the state’s governorship, stating that his decision was driven, in part, by a desire to preserve cohesion within the party.
Cole, a businessman and co-founder of Sahara Group who ran unsuccessfully for the Rivers governorship in 2019, had been among the more prominent figures positioning for the APC ticket ahead of the 2027 election cycle. His exit narrows a field that had been taking shape in one of Nigeria’s most politically volatile and economically significant states.
In citing party unity as a motivating factor, Cole’s withdrawal implicitly acknowledges the intense internal pressures and competing interests that have characterised APC politics in Rivers State, a territory that has become a high-stakes battleground since the dramatic falling-out between President Bola Tinubu and suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The political crisis in Rivers State has drawn sustained national attention, with the conflict between Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike — now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and a key Tinubu ally — fracturing loyalties and redrawing political lines across the state’s political class.
Cole did not publicly name the specific pressures or negotiations that preceded his exit, leaving room for speculation about whether his withdrawal was entirely voluntary or the product of back-channel party consensus-building.
His decision may consolidate support around a preferred APC candidate as the party seeks to mount a credible challenge in Rivers State, where the political environment remains combustible.