Cole Tonye Patrick is a Nigerian politician who contested the 2023 Gubernatorial Elections as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Rivers. They received 95K votes (19.69%).

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In this race · 2023 Gubernatorial ElectionsAll candidates →

Abe Magnus Ngei

SDP

Agwor Samuel Ndubuisi

NNPP

Beke Ugochukwu Prince

APGA

Dada Obele Joseph Ngechu

AAC

Fingesi Victor Tamie

ADP

Biography

Patrick Dele-Cole (born 1940) is a Nigerian politician, journalist, historian, and diplomat who in 1976 became the managing director of the Daily Times.

He was also a presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party in the early 1990s, and was Nigeria's ambassador to Argentina and Brazil.

He is author of the book Modern Traditional Elites in the Politics of Lagos.

He attended the University of Otago, New Zealand, where he earned a first-class honours degree.

He also studied at Cambridge University.

As a managing director of the Daily Times in 1976, he restored the paper's former influence to become one of Africa's largest at that time, and brought in influential journalists, including Dele Giwa and Dr. Stanley Macebuh.

Party Positions

Policy positions from the All Progressives Congress (APC) party manifesto.

Security & Defense

Enhances compensation, medical care, housing support, scholarships, stipends, and health insurance for military personnel injured in duty and their families.

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Governance & Reform

Commits to amending Nigeria’s governance architecture through constitutional review and collaboration with the National Assembly and State Governments to grant States greater autonomy over critical matters like crime prevention, prisons, stamp duties, and taxation.

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Economy & Trade

Reforms the Federal Budgetary Methodology to move away from oil revenue dependence and base spending on projected growth, establishing an inflationary ceiling to optimize fiscal policy without causing excessive inflation.

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Infrastructure

Launches a National Infrastructure Campaign to modernize national infrastructure by hiring millions of unemployed Nigerians through the fiscal flexibility gained from reforming budgetary methodology.

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Agriculture

Will encourage local farmers to form farm cooperatives, enabling them to pool resources for modern farming equipment, fertiliser, and access priority government agricultural assistance programs (extension services), with tax breaks and credits.

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Environment & Climate

Will **reduce Nigeria’s gas flaring** by removing it from the top 10 countries with highest flares, aiming to maximize sector benefits while eliminating environmental harm.

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Anti-corruption

Curb reliance on imported goods via luxury taxes, higher tariffs, and processing fees while incentivizing local manufacturing with tax credits/rebates.

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Enterprise grant support

Provides tax credits, holidays, and reduced interest rate loans for businesses that hire a specified percentage of youth in their workforce and offer on-the-job training.

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Energy

Will increase Nigeria’s domestic crude oil production to **2.6 million barrels per day by 2027** and **4 million barrels per day by 2030**, while implementing a Special Enforcement and Monitoring Unit to deter theft, vandalism, and pipeline breaches using drones and aerial surveillance.

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Education

Introduces a new management system for federally funded primary and secondary schools via Boards of Education, reserving community representation in decision-making.

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Healthcare

Will strengthen primary healthcare infrastructure with incentive schemes, counterpart funding programs, and grassroots preventative care (vaccinations, cancer screening, blood pressure monitoring) in collaboration with state/local governments.

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Technology & Digital

Establishment of an advisory committee to review and reform regulatory frameworks for blockchain technology and virtual asset services.

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Reliefs and scholarships

Provides **conditional income support** to very poor households, tied to human capital development goals like high-school attendance, healthcare, and nutrition.

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