The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers state, Tonye Cole has promised to tackle poverty if he is elected in 2019.
According to Vanguard, Cole made this promise during a tour of Andoni Local Government Area in Rivers state on Saturday, December 15, 2018. He said that he was touched by the high level of poverty in several communities in the state.
He also called on traditional rulers to mobilize their subjects to vote credible leaders in power in 2019. Cole said:
“I’m worried about the poverty level in Rivers communities, I know poverty is a huge challenge, especially among third world nations, but I think most of these adjudged high poverty indices we should have been able at least to achieve electricity.
“No dout, lack of electricity which happened to be a veritable tool for small and medium enterprises and mainstay of every economy has left the people of Andoni to struggle with high poverty rate.
“A tour of this area showed that there is no cottage hospital and the risk of maternal and infant mortality should expectedly be high around here.
“Indeed, we need to effectively harness available economic potential in our communities to fight poverty and create employment for our youths.
“l’m here with my team to receive a father’s blessing from the throne and also to seek support from your domain.
“It’s time our traditional leaders begin to use their stool to attract development to our communities.”