Women Group Declares Support For Chinda, Other APC Candidates

Women Group Declares Support For Chinda, Other APC Candidates Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt ‎ ‎A political pressure group, Rivers Women Unite for Sim (RWUS), loyal to the Rivers State Governor, Siminialayi Fubara, has declared their support for the Renewed Hope Family and Rainbow Coalition led by the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike. ‎ ‎The group also declared support for the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon Kingsley Chinda, and all candidates of the party. ‎ ‎The group said the decision to align with the new political family was in line with Fubara’s earlier decision to return to the political family which produced him as governor of the state. ‎ ‎Convener of the group, Sotonye Toby-Fulton, who made the declaration on Thursday, while addressing members of the group at their monthly prayer meeting, urged the women to accept the decision in good faith and in the interest of peace in the state. ‎ ‎”As women who have decided to be politically active, we must accept our fate. We’ll remain united. You can’t say you stand with Fubara and go at the back saying something different. This is where I stand and if you are with me, we’ll continue to stand together and pray; and I’m reiterating it because we can’t pray together if we don’t agree. ‎ ‎”So we are part of the Renewed Hope Family. We are part of it. May the good Lord make of it whatever he wills,” Toby-Fulton said. ‎ ‎She thanked the women for remaining faithful to the course and praying for the peace of Rivers State which she said averted the predicted bloodbath in the state. ‎ ‎”Despite anything, we haven’t seen the kind of bloodshed that was predicted in Rivers State and we believe God will grant us more peace and our children won’t die,” she added. ‎ ‎Addressing those that maybe disappointed by the decision, the convener said the women are free to associate with other groups but warned against defaming the image of the group and its leaders. ‎ ‎”There is freedom of association and we are free to associate but don’t sell lies to the groups that you are joining. If it is not said by RWUS don’t go there to say it is RWUS,” she warned. ‎ ‎Also speaking, a member of the group and former state chairperson of Federated Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Adata Bio-Briggs, expressed satisfaction with the move by the governor, saying it will ensure the peace existing in the state is sustained. ‎ ‎”We are grateful that our prayers have been answered. We prayed and asked God for this peace between Governor Fubara and his leader which God has done; and as his core supporters, we believe in his vision and leadership, and so what he has done we’ll follow,” Bio-Briggs stated. ‎ ‎Another leader in the group, Mrs Atonye Green, said she’s happy because the governor has shown so much love to women of the state, adding that Governor Fubara’s decision to return to his leader, Wike, is the best decision for the state. ‎ ‎”As a woman, I’m happy because the governor has shown so much love to the women here in Rivers State, so we can’t go elsewhere. We stand with him because he knows the importance of belonging to his family again. We have seen that his decision is best for everyone in Rivers State and we just have to align and work with him,” she said. ‎ ‎RWUS was the only group still standing with the governor after the disbandment of Simplified Movement immediately after the lifting of the state of emergency in Rivers State. However, with Thursday’s declaration, all known Fubara’s structures have fully aligned with the Rainbow Coalition and Renewed Hope Family led by Wike. ‎