Former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, (nPDP) and a prominent member of the All Progressives Congress, has urged the newly reinstated Rivers APC executive committee, led by Emeka Beke, to ensure that state governor Siminalayi Fubara joins the ruling national party......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
Eze also urged the Beke-led State Executive Committee to formalize the membership of the 27 lawmakers, who are reportedly led astray by Martins Amaewhule, in accordance with President Bola Tinubu’s directive “that we should not discard anybody from joining APC.”
Eze made this statement on Tuesday in response to a State High Court judgment in Port Harcourt, which confirmed Emeka Beke and his team as the legally recognized state chairman and executive committee members of the APC in the state.
In November 2023, the APC National Working Committee (NWC), through its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, announced the dissolution of the State Executive Council and the appointment of a 7-man caretaker committee led by Tony Okocha.
Dissatisfied with this unsubstantiated action, Beke, an ally of Chibuike Amaechi, and his team of congressionally elected State Executive Committee members sought judicial intervention, challenging their unjust dissolution.
Justice Sika, who presided over the case, ruled that the appointment of Tony Okocha and his team was unjustifiable and violated the APC constitution. The judge noted 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 was still in effect.
It was reported that 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 urged the National Working Committee of the party to honor the court judgment and provide Beke’s executive with the necessary support to advance the party, emphasizing 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 added that, with sanity 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.”
He 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 dismissed Tony Okocha’s threat to appeal the judgment as “the joke of the year,” claiming it was a desperate move by someone grasping at straws, as his dubious efforts to extort funds from Nyesom Wike and the party leadership under the guise of party activities in Rivers State have come to an end.