.As judgment sparks fresh battle for party’s control
EMMANUEL NWELEDUM, Port Harcourt
The leadership crisis in the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has intensified as the Emeka Beke and Tony Okocha factions clashed over the interpretation of a Court of Appeal judgment delivered on May 29, 2026.
While the Beke faction declared that the Friday appellate court’s ruling upheld an earlier High Court ruling that nullified the ward, local government and state congresses conducted by the party in November 2024, the Tony Okocha-led faction insisted the judgment did not affect its state executive.
Spokesperson of the Beke faction, Darlington Nwauju, told newsmen in Port Harcourt that the verdict meant there was “no legally constituted executive of the APC in Rivers State outside the leadership headed by Chief Emeka Beke.”
He also questioned the validity of all nominations and decisions made by the rival leadership since December 2024.
Recall that Justice Kingsley Obomanu of the Rivers State High Court had, on December 20, 2024, nullified the congresses that produced Tony Okocha and others, after ruling they were held in defiance of a subsisting order to maintain the status quo. The Okocha-led group had filed Appeal No. CA/PH/523/2024 to challenge that decision.
Delivering judgment on May 29, 2026, Justice Elfreida Oluwayemisi Williams-Dawodu of the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision.
Nwauju said, “The congresses have been buried. There is no legally constituted executive of the APC in Rivers State outside the leadership headed by Chief Emeka Beke.”
He accused the APC National Working Committee (NWC) of persistently disregarding court judgments and refusing to recognise the Beke-led executive despite judicial pronouncements in its favour.
Nwauju explained that the High Court had, in November, 2024, ordered the party to maintain the status quo pending the hearing of a motion challenging the planned congresses.
Despite the order, he said ward congresses were conducted on November 23, while state congresses followed on November 30, 2024, leading to the High Court’s nullification on December 20, 2024.
The Beke faction also raised questions over actions taken by officials who emerged from the disputed congresses, insisting that all nominations, communications, representations and decisions made on behalf of Rivers APC between December 20, 2024 and May 29, 2026 lacked legal validity.
Nwauju called on the APC national leadership to review all primaries conducted in the state ahead of the 2027 elections under the disputed structure, warning that the party risked facing legal complications similar to those that affected the APC in Zamfara State ahead of the 2019 elections.
The faction also challenged the validity of nominations submitted to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) for the August 2025 local government elections, arguing that candidates presented by the rival leadership lacked legal backing. It urged authorities to recognise candidates allegedly nominated by the Beke-led executive.
Among its demands, the faction called for the restoration of the full tenure of the Beke-led executive and compensation for reputational damage and distress allegedly suffered from the prolonged dispute.
Nwauju concluded by urging all political actors to respect court orders, citing Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun’s warning that disobedience to judicial directives constitutes “a direct affront to democracy and an invitation to anarchy.”
However, the Tony Okocha-led faction dismissed reports that the Court of Appeal affirmed the removal of the state executive.
State Publicity Secretary, Chibike Ikenga, said in a statement that the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Appeal No. CA/PH/523/2024: APC & Anor. v. Okwu Joebrown Ndike, was related to a dispute arising from the party’s Local Government Area and Ward Congresses, and not the State Congress that produced Okocha and other members of the State Executive Committee.
According to Ikenga, the appeal challenged the jurisdiction of the Rivers State High Court to entertain matters it described as internal party affairs, as well as an interim order directing parties to maintain the status quo pending determination of the substantive suit.
“The Court of Appeal, with all due respect, predicated its decision on the wrong assumption that the appeal relates to the just concluded Local Government Area and Ward Elections in Rivers State and therefore held that an appeal touching on such elections must terminate at the High Court,” the statement said.
Ikenga added that the appellate court struck out the appeal and directed all parties to return to the Rivers State High Court for the hearing of the substantive matter.
The conflicting interpretations have left Rivers APC with two rival executives both claiming legitimacy, raising doubts on the party’s participations in the 2027 general elections and other party activities in the state.
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