By John Owen Nwachukwu
Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has urged the newly-reinstalled Rivers APC executive committee led by Emeka Beke to ensure that the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, joins the national ruling party.
Eze also pleaded with the Beke-led State Executive Committee to formalize the membership of the 27 lawmakers led by the reportedly misguided Martins Amaewhule, in obedience to President Bola Tinubu’s directive “that we should not discard anybody from joining APC.”
Eze made this statement on Tuesday in reaction to the judgment of a State High Court in Port Harcourt, which affirmed the position of Emeka Beke and his team as the lawfully recognized state chairman and executive committee members, respectively, of the APC in the state.
Recall that in November 2023, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC, purportedly announced through its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the dissolution of the State Executive Council of the Party and constituted a 7-man caretaker committee headed by Tony Okocha.
Dissatisfied with the unsubstantiated action of the APC’s NWC, Beke, an ally of Chibuike Amaechi, and his team of congressionally elected State Executive Committee members filed a suit seeking the court’s intervention over their unjust dissolution.
Justice Sika, who presided over the case, ruled that the appointment of Tony Okocha and six others was unjustifiable and in gross violation of the APC constitution, noting that there was no valid reason for the NWC to dissolve the democratically elected state executive committee led by Chief Emeka Beke, whose four-year term still subsists.
Justice Aprioku issued a perpetual injunction against the Okocha-led caretaker committee and reinstated the Chief Emeka Beke-led executive as the authentic executive of the party in the state.
Eze pleaded with the National Working Committee of the party to respect the court judgment and accord Beke’s executive all the necessary support to move the party forward, adding that “we will not tolerate any undue interference in Rivers State APC affairs, particularly by giving offices to non-members of APC like Tony Okocha and his misguided co-travelers who are not registered members of the party.”
Eze said that now that sanity has been restored to APC in Rivers State, the leadership should “lobby Governor Sim Fubara to join the party instead of any other political party, as we are ready to assist him in any way possible to move the state forward.”
Eze described the judgment as having “sent shockwaves down the spines of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and his collaborators at the APC National Working Committee, as their attempts to bribe judicial officers failed in this instance.”
Eze called the threat by Tony Okocha to appeal the judgment “the joke of the year,” stating that it is merely a last-ditch effort by a drowning man looking for anything to hold on to, as his dubious means of extorting funds from Nyesom Wike and the party leadership under the guise of party activities in Rivers State have come to an end.
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