rince Tonye Princewill has proved himself right. The first time I heard him speak on the radio, without doubt in my mind, I believed that he's a man of integrity and a man of his word. The time he spoke was during the campaign of the ghastly 2007 elections which he contested the Rivers State guber under the plat form of the Action Congress, (Popularly called AC).

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During that campaign, Princewill told the people of Rivers State that he didn't come out to contest the position of a governor to enrich himself. But, he was too keen for the exalted seat to put a lot of what were going wrong in the state right. Princewill told the people that he was comfortable with the level God has helped him in life, if there was anything that was amiss in the minds of the people.

But from the rumour mill, people were saying that Princewill came out to contest, not that he was going to win, but for him to be 'settled' by the Peoples Democratic Party, (popularly called PDP), knowing fully well that the PDP would be rigging the election.

This assertion followed the mishap of the 1999 and 2003 elections which result was not transparent on the side of the PDP. But Princewill defending himself assured his supporters that he was not going to sell his personality for any paltry sum. He told the masses that he is an engineer who has attained stardom, lived in overseas and was not doing badly. Not only is he the Prince of Kalabari kingdom, he said that he has his name to protect. He gave hope to the hopeless people who did not believe in him.

While the campaign was going on, Princewill challenged all the State guber aspirants to schedule a date so that they could lock their horns in a contest of memorandum exposition. Princewill directly challenged Sir Celestine Omehia on this contest, but Sir Omehia did not dare Princewill in the contest owing to a fact only Sir Omehia knew.

It was challenging when Sir Omehia emerged the 'PDP' governor of Rivers State in the April 2007 polls. Princewill put his foot and proceeded to the Tribunal. A lot of prominent Rivers indigenes hated that Omehia's government. They said; it was a product of controversiality. They believed that Omehia was just imposed on them, not that he won the election. Go and ask Niger Delta leaders like Chief Edwin Clark and Prof. Tam David West and they will tell you that Sir Omehia as governor then was not the making and mind of the Rivers people and that he did not became governor for the interest of the people but for the oligarchs like Dr. Peter Odili, the predecessor and Olusegun Obasanjo who was the president.

It was Amaechi that the people of Rivers State wanted because of the leadership quality in him having served two times as Speaker Rivers State House of Assembly under Odili-led administration. Even, a lot of people are now suggesting that if Nigeria was not practicing democracy that Amaechi is too good to be allowed a 'life' governor of the state when Amaechi won the case between him and Sir Omehai and became governor. Rivers AC saw no use of still being in the Tribunal squabbling the PDP victory in the state's guber contest of 2007 because Amaechi has claimed his mandate.

In a statement credited to the media consultant of Tonye Princewill Campagn Organization (TPCO), Rivers State, recently, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said although 2007 had been a year of turmoil for the people of Rivers, the party will continue with the incumbent administration.

Hear Chief Eze: "AC will continue with our partnership and collaboration with the Amaechi-led administration to offer our people good governance and keep at bay all retrogressive elements from hijacking governance in the State." While urging the aggrieved parties to follow its step so that the present administration will work hitch-free, the AC scribe said, it intends to build a more combat, compact, cohesive, revolutionary, futuristic and issue-oriented goal-driven Action Congress.

It is a step too good taken by AC to support Amaechi - the people's choice, so that Rivers State will move forward. So, what are other parties still doing at the Tribunal?