Rivers APC slams NWC for recognising Okocha against court order

By Kayode Olopade 

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State has advised the National Working Committee not to disobey the court order that reinstated the Chief Emeka Beke-led executive in the state.

The State APC Publicity Secretary, Darlington Nwauju, gave the advice in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Friday.

Earlier, a Rivers State High Court presided over by Justice Sika Aprioku sacked the Caretaker Committee of APC in the state led by Chief Tony Okocha, saying the party’s National Working Committee had the power to dissolve an elected while its tenure was still running.

Justice Aprioku also restrained the Okocha-led CTC from distracting the Beke state APC leadership pending the expiration of their four-year tenure.

Okocha in his reaction during a news briefing in Port Harcourt rejected the ruling, saying the party would head to the Appeal Court to reclaim its mandate.

Also, the APC NWC on Thursday in Abuja, said it will continue to recognise the Okocha-led CTC as the party’s authentic leadership in the state.

He stated, “We are aware of Suit No. PHC/CS/925/2023 which was handled by Justice D.S. Kio of the Rivers State High Court and the decision of that Court (which was a vacation court) to ‘suspend’ two officers of our party via an Ex-parte Order and that this has since elapsed with the effluxion of time (14 days), unless, we are now saying that an Ex-parte Order can be mummified like the Egyptian Pharaohs and preserved as part of our own political tourist attraction!

“The tenure of the Elected Executives of the party in the state has been preserved by the Order of court, therefore, contemplating fresh Congresses for the party in Rivers State will not only be an act of illegality but shall amount to sheer waste of resources. ”

Continuing, he added, “We condemn this obvious national embarrassment on our party and plead with members of our NWC to guide themselves properly by getting a very neutral interpretation of and digesting the judgment of August 12 2024, as this is the only existing judgment anywhere in Nigeria as touching elected Executives of APC in Rivers State.

“We have heard rumours of plans to slam suspensions on members of the State Executive Committee, while we also hear that some desperate individuals are making attempts to manufacture an abracadabra judgment from an Abuja High Court against the State Executives and backdating same, but we wait to see.

“We close by appealing to the NWC to stop distracting our beloved President with ill-timed political innuendos/permutations which do not add a single grain of value to the Renewed Hope Agenda.” State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has yesterday said his administration remained committed to affordable housing of the teeming residents of the state and again unveiled a 170 units of housing project in Agboyi-Ketu Local Council Development Area of the state.

The project, Raymond Estate and Sterling Heights which is a government , private sector initiative, was delivered by Mayor Dele Oshinowo led administration of Agboyi-Ketu Local Council Development Area in conjunction with Osita Homes  and Sterling Bank.

The governor in his address, pledged to ensure that Lagos will continue to have irreversible trajectory of development in Housing, Health care delivery, Education, Tourism as well as road and Public Transportation solutions

Sanwo-Olu who commended the Chairman of the LCDA for his continuous efforts to raise the bar of governance and ensuring purposeful development for people to enjoy the dividends of democracy, noted that Local Government and Local Council Development Areas in the state are working well.

In his welcome address, Oshinowo expressed gratitude to the Sanwo-Olu administration for tremendous support, said the housing initiative spear headed by his administration through creation of Agboyi-Ketu Properties and Investment Board in collaboration with the private sector aims to align with the Sustainable Development Goals by providing affordable, accessible and quality housing to address housing deficits in the state.

He added that the housing project exemplifies the strongest collaboration with the T H.E.M.E.S PLUS Agenda of the Sanwo-Olu administration.

 "The initiative spearheaded by our administration through the creation Agboyi-Ketu Property and Investment Board (PIB) in collaboration with the private sector aims to align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SSGs) by providing affordable, accessible and quality housing, in order to address deficits in our dear state. This initiative not only showcases Agboyi-Ketu, but also aims to boost our Internally Generated Revenue.

"Furthermore, our administration places great emphasis on infrastructure development as a means to enhance human capital and stimulate economic growth.

"I affirm our administration's dedication to delivering good governance to the people of Agboyi-Ketu LCDA exemplifying that effective governance at the grassroots level is achievable in Nigeria".