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 Chief Tony Okocha.
This committee had been appointed by the APC National Working Committee, which had previously removed the elected executive led by Chief Emeka Beke.
Justice Sika Aprioku, who presided over the case, reinstated Chief Emeka Beke’s executive as the legitimate leadership of the APC in the state.
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The judgment followed a suit filed by Sam Sam Etetegwung, Banarth Ezemoye, and others, representing the democratically elected executive of the state and local government APC.
Justice Aprioku issued a perpetual injunction against the caretaker committee led by Chief Tony Okocha, prohibiting them from taking any actions that would undermine or interfere with Beke’s democratically elected executive until the end of their four-year term.
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The court also barred the APC National leadership from recognizing the Tony Okocha-led executive and ordered them to acknowledge Chief Emeka Beke’s executive as the legitimate leadership of the party for the remainder of their four-year term.
Justice Aprioku criticized the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for supporting the dissolution of the democratically elected APC executives. He emphasized that political party leadership must adhere to their own constitutions and avoid reckless and unjust actions.
Aprioku found that the APC National Working Committee failed to justify their decision, which he deemed a violation of both the party’s and Nigeria’s constitutions.
He noted that the committee relied on unsubstantiated claims of anti-party activities that were not supported by evidence in the case.
The judge, having dismissed the defendants’ preliminary objections regarding justification and the application for joinder by individuals seeking to join the suit, ruled that the APC National leadership violated its own constitution by failing to provide a fair hearing to the elected party executive. As a result, the court awarded ₦300,000 in costs to the APC led by Chief Emeka Beke.
The court declared that the APC could not benefit from its illegal actions and that the inauguration of the seven-man caretaker committee led by Chief Tony Okocha was null and void.
The committee, including its chairman and members, was deemed non-existent in the eyes of the law.
Additionally, the court struck out a suit filed by Ezekiel Ubom on behalf of the ward-elected APC executives due to procedural errors in the filing process.
