– Chris Finebone, publicity secretary, APC, Rivers State
Chris Finebone
What are the chances of the APC clinching the governorship seat of the state in the 2015 governorship election?
If you follow the recent history of Rivers State, you will realise that we all came into government on the platform of PDP, and a combination of so many negative forces forced us – our leader, the governor of the state, and ourselves, the followers – to find nowhere to stay, therefore we had to get into somewhere. And in doing that our thoughts, our principles, our commitment, our thinking were all aligned with the tenets of the APC. And naturally, we found home in the APC. As I talk to you now, APC is on ground in all the 23 local government areas of the state. All you may find will be remnants of those who are in the old house of PDP. As they are, they are torn apart by all sorts of problems. We are not concerned; occasionally, they entertain us.
Is your party or chairman in support of a particular aspirant?
No. Look, this is a political party. I don’t know if the question is a fair question. The chairman who is the father of all in the party cannot support one aspirant.
Is your party in support of zoning?
There are tenets that are our guiding principles of party politics in Rivers State. And as long as those tenets and principles are for the successful cohesion and unity of our people, we will pick and choose those ones that are critical to the survival of Rivers State. And we cannot just throw them away; we must give them consideration. Even in logic, there are templates you follow to arrive at an answer. So, we must give consideration to issues that are critical to the well-being and unity of our people.
What does the future hold for APC in this state?
If you conduct an election tomorrow, you will find out that APC will win that election fair and square.Cheating won’t be on our part but we can’t vouch for others. For us, no cheating; one man, one vote.
Is there any bias for female aspirants?
Yes, females are picking forms and there is bias for female aspirants and the disabled. The race for the women is different. This is done to encourage them.
How do you ensure cultists do not hijack your party who may come in the form of aspirants? How do you screen them out to get the support of your party?
We don’t have cultists in APC, so the question of screening them out does not arise.
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