APC Crisis: Stakeholders Pass Vote Of Confidence On Okocha-led CTC

•Resolve to boycott Oct 5 LG polls, say election will not hold

•I remain Rivers APC Chairman, Okocha insists, despite court judgment

Emmanuel Nlewedum, Port Harcourt

Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Rivers State have passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of the Chief Tony Okocha-led Caretaker Committee of the party in the state.

This is just as Chief Tony Okocha insisted that he remains the leader of the APC in Rivers State as Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the party, despite last Monday’s High Court judgment that sacked him from office and reinstated Chief Emeka Beke as Chairman.

The party also reaffirmed their unalloyed support for President Bola Tinubu and Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike.

The vote of confidence on the leadership of the party in the state under Tony Okocha as the CTC Chairman, was passed on Wednesday during an enlarged stakeholders meeting at the party secretariat in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

The party also resolved that they will not be taking part in the proposed local government elections in the state scheduled for October 5, 2024.

Speaking during the meeting, Chief Tony Okocha whose position as the CTC Chairman of the party in Rivers State said APC was not involved in the planning process of the local government elections.

Okocha said the contrary to assurances by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, that the October 5th LG polls is sacrosanct, the election will not hold as he had approached the court to obtain a restraining order against the election.

“We are in court and I won’t speak on any matter that’s in court. The much I can say to you is that, that course of action is to restrain the agencies that would conduct that election that they announced behind us.

“We were not part of the decision for an election on the 5th of October. We had gone on air 19th of January to tell the RSIEC chairman and the commission itself to commence the process of having elections. At that time, it was still within the armbits of the law of the state because the law says three months to the expiration of the tenures of the council that the electoral body should organise election, the process should commence, timetable released and all that and twenty one days inside that three months, elections should hold.

“My dear people, what they are doing now as we speak and 5th of October as they are talking about will not work. It will not work. You can’t go and conduct local government elections in Rivers State without a party like the APC.

“We are not saying we won’t contest elections for those of you who they may have told that, that’s not our contention.

“Our contention is until the processes that have been put in place or they want to put in place is in tandem with the law first and then we as a party, we are carried along in the entire arrangement we won’t participate.

“We went to court not because we don’t have the number or we don’t have the strength. I can assure you and you know by yourself that we have men and women, caterpillars and bulldozers that can contest all the elections and win.

“What we are saying is that the processes should be transparent so that we don’t just go and work on hurdle thorns,” he stated.

Okocha also stated that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s political party may not also participate in the election which he alleged that is already stereotyped as results has been decided.

“I know that that election will not represent the interest or opinion of those who would vote. It is already stereotyped, the handout has already been written.

“We won’t accept that. I won’t expose you to that kind of trauma where you go and spend your money, even if we say we are going to assist you, some of you would sell land, some of you would sell house, some of you will do everything possible to generate funds and then we know that that fund you’re generating for that election will go into the dungeon, do you think that we should allow it?”

On last week’s High Court judgment which sacked his Caretaker Committee, and reinstated Chief Emeka Beke as Chairman of the party, as well as other elected executives in the state, after they were suspended and removed from office by the national leadership of APC, Chief Tony Okocha insisted that, he still remains Chairman of the APC in Rivers State.

The National Working Committee of the APC had rejected the judgment stating that the National Leadership of the party will continue to recognize the Chief Tony Okocha led CTC as leadership of APC in Rivers State.

Okocha said the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party has endorsed the CTC that he leads in Rivers, and has filed and appeal and a stay of execution of the said judgment.

He said, “The Party has spoken. The Party is supreme. The NWC recognizes our CTC, and if a meeting of Chairmen of the party is called today in APC, I will attend.”

In his speech, former Chairman of the APC in the state, Hon. Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, advised Hon Emeka Beke to accept the decision of the national leadership of the party and support the Tony Okocha led CTC in the state.

Amachree said, “I was the APC chairman in this State. They dissolved us and appointed Caretaker, I went home. Let Emeka Bekee go home and stop this game. It won’t work.”

The meeting was attended by major stakeholders of the party in the state including Ex-State Chairman, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, former National and State Assemblies, Senator Wilson Ake, Hon. Chidi Wihioka, Hon. Legborsi Nwidada, former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Barr Wogu Boms, among others.