National Telescope national telescope newspaper
By Chucks Peter
A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has dissolved the seven-man caretaker committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, led by Tony Okocha, which was previously inaugurated by the party’s National Working Committee.
Justice Sika Aprioku delivered the ruling on Monday, responding to a lawsuit filed by Sam Sam Etetegwung, Banarth Ezemoye, and others on behalf of the elected APC executives at the state and local government levels.
In the ruling, Justice Aprioku issued a perpetual injunction against the Okocha-led caretaker committee and reinstated the Chief Emeka Beke-led executive as the legitimate leadership of the APC in Rivers State. Beke is a known loyalist of former governor Rotimi Amaechi.
The court further restrained the APC’s national leadership from recognizing the Okocha-led executive and mandated that they acknowledge the Beke-led elected executive going forward.
The court criticized the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for supporting the dissolution of democratically elected APC executives, stressing that political party leaderships must adhere to their constitutions and avoid acting with recklessness and impunity.
Speaking to the press outside the courtroom, one of the claimants’ lawyers, Chizim Chinda, expressed satisfaction with the judgment.
Chinda stated, “The court agreed with us and ruled in our favor. Regarding the local government level, the Tony Okocha caretaker committee had even gone as far as appointing individuals to serve on local government caretaker committees. The court also ruled that this was unlawful, as those positions were already filled by duly elected individuals.”
Okocha, however, described the judgment as flawed and indicated that the party would file an appeal.
“My party will appeal this ill-fated judgment. It is unfortunate that in Rivers State, the judiciary has become a tool in the hands of a clueless governor,” Okocha remarked.
“The judiciary in Rivers State has turned into Governor Fubara’s supermarket, where he can obtain any order he wishes, even when there is an existing order from a Court of Coordinate Jurisdiction.”
