Wike’s loyalists lose control of Rivers APC

Emmanuel Nlewedum, Port Harcourt

The All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in Rivers State, aligned with Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, has been ousted by a ruling from the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt.

The court dismissed the seven-member Caretaker Committee led by Tony Okocha, appointed by the APC’s National Working Committee.

In a ruling on Monday, Justice Sika Aprioku addressed a suit brought by Sam Sam Etetegwung, Banarth Ezemoye, Ezekiel Ubom, and others, who sought to uphold the democratically elected APC executive in the state.

The court reinstated the executive led by Emeka Beke as the legitimate leadership of the party in Rivers State.

However, Caretaker Committee Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha, said he and his team will be heading to Appeal Court to challenge a High Court judgment that restrained them from functioning in their positions as the party executive in the state.

A Rivers State High Court presided over by Justice Sika Apprioku had on Monday sacked the Tony Okocha led 7-man Caretaker Committee of the APC in the state  and reinstated the Emeka Beke- led officials as the party executive.

Beke and other elected executives of the party in the state had approached the court to challenge their removal from office by the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, led by Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje in November 23, 2023, and inaugurated the Rivers State caretaker committee headed by Tony Okocha.

The Court ruled that the APC NWC lacked the power to dissolve an elected executive of a state nor set up a caretaker committee when the tenure of the elected executive was still running.

Briefing journalists in Port Harcourt on Monday in response to the High Court judgment, Chief Okocha argued that there is a subsisting Supreme Court ruling which restrained the court from interfering or deciding the leadership of a political party.

He accused Justice Apprioku of bias and compromised.

Okocha, who noted that he was not surprise with the verdict, said the Justice Apprioku

ought to have recused himself from the matter after he was petitioned for being bias, bringing his credibility to question, but he insisted on going ahead to deliver judgment against the authentic state executive of the APC in the state, recognised by the party.

His words, “I invited you to let you know our position on the judgment of Justice Sika Aprioku on a matter instituted by former secretary of the party Sam Etetegwung and the former Chairman of the party, Emeka Beke for which the Caretaker Committee of the party in Rivers State was also joined

“I would like to say that it didn’t sound like a surprise to us that the judge took that voyage to perdition.

“In law and what we know about the judiciary, when a case of bias is raised against a trial judge before the matter commences, what the trial judge does is to recuse himself from the matter. In other words, he could have said I wash my hands off the matter because we have alleged that he was biased.

“And he didn’t even hide it or pretend as though he didn’t see our petition, in court, the secretary of the party, Chief Eric Nwibani was insulted by the judge and asked to stand up and he stood up and the judge in an open court  told him you people went and wrote petition against me, you people should know that I’m human.

“He acknowledged that there was a petition against him that he shouldn’t try the matter that he was already sided, and in course of the proceeding, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria who represented our party showed him an acknowledged copy of the petition that was written against him and he continued, he said he wasn’t going to respect.

“Don’t forget that in my press briefing in Abuja, I alleged that Justice Sika Aprioku was contracted for a hatchet job against the APC, so are we not justified about what we said initially?

Okocha, who alleged that the judgment was arrested by the executive arm of government in the state, however urged party members in the state to remain calm and focused, assuring that the verdict would be challenged at a higher court.

He said, “We are wiser and much more wiser than they think. The judgment was arrested. The judge had prepared the judgment for 9:00 but he was taken to Government House to read to see what he has written that’s why it was delayed till 12:00noon.

“We will challenge whatever they have done at the Court of Appeal. Thereafter they or we will go back to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court will decide.”

Meanwhile, Chief Emeka Beke who was reinstated by the Court as the APC Chairman in Rivers State has thanked the judiciary for restoring their mandate, stating that their tenure will expire in 2025.

He said the APC under his leadership will participate in the forthcoming October 5 local government elections in the state.

“Our tenure is going to expire next year, we had delegates that gave us their votes that made us to be where we are, if they say we should not come back we will not.

“I do not know what the National Secretariat have in mind but we are going to stand as party in Rivers State. We were elected by Rivers delegates and not Abuja. Our lawyer will serve the party the judgment and it depends on what they want, but I believe that the majority is with me and APC is of the majority in Rivers State. I believe that the National Chairman being a democrat will obey the judgment of the court in Rivers State.

“I can tell you that we are democrats we are going to stand with the policy of the people of Rivers State.

“We need to partake in the October 5th local government elections because the president is a democrat and nobody will stop us.”