Rivers APC: Okocha says party will appeal judgment reinstating Beke
Chief Tony Okocha, Chairman, Rivers All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker Committee has assured that the party will appeal the High Court judgement that reinstated its dissolved Emeka Beke-led executive.
He gave the assurance on Friday in Abuja while speaking with newsmen, adding that the Rivers APC would never go back to the social club status it used to be in the past.
A Rivers High Court had dismissed the APC Okocha-led Caretaker Committee and reinstated the dissolved Emeka Beke-led executive on Monday, Aug. 12.
“As far as we are concerned, this is the court of first instance and we had known the end from the beginning.
“If we had known the end from the beginning, why should we be perturbed by that court judgment.
We knew and that was why we went ahead with our programmes, the solidarity rally for President Bola Tinubu.
“We are in court, we are law abiding, at our levels, even when a judgment is gotten from the backyard, we will abide by it, but we have applied to the court of appeal for a stay of execution.
“And an invalidation of that judgment. We are not fighting fisticuffs, we will use the law and we are ready to go the whole hug to the Supreme Court,” Okocha said.
He recalled that the Supreme Court had ruled that courts should not meddle in the internal affairs of political parties, especially with regards to picking their chairmen which was an internal affair of parties.
He alleged that there was an orchestrated plot to hijack the APC in Rivers, with a view to subordinating it to the state government as part of a broader design to frustrate the re-election of President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
Okocha said Emeka Beke and one Iheanyichukwu Dike should be disregarded because they had been suspended from the State Working Committee (SWC) for engaging in anti-party activities.
He added that the APC was never part of the said suit and that only its National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje and secretary were listed.
He said it was therefore wrong for the trial judge to have made orders on parties who were never joined in the suit.
Okocha said the APC in Rivers had a lot of intellectuals, professionals and lecturers and could not be headed by a person of low academic qualification.
The party’s National Working Committee (NWC) at the end of its closed-door meeting on Thursday, said it would only recognise the Okocha-led Caretaker Committee of its Rivers chapter.
Mr Festus Fuanter, APC:s Deputy National Secretary while speaking with newsmen, said it was not bound by the High Court judgment that reinstated its dissolved Beke-led State Executive Committee because it was not a party to the suit.
Fuanter explained that Beke, who was reinstated by the court, was previously removed by another court and had filed an appeal but chose not to await its outcome, instead engaging in an abuse of court processes.
“We wish to categorically state and inform the public that the APC is not bound by the judgment delivered by the Rivers High Court in Suit No: PHC 3592 CS. 2023, which reinstated the dissolved State Executive Committee.
“The claimant in the said case sued the national chairman and national secretary, but not the party itself. You cannot sue an agent of a disclosed principal.
“Furthermore, there is a valid and subsisting court judgment against Chief Emeka Beke and Iheanyichukwu Azubuike, former Rivers APC Chairman and Legal Adviser, respectively, wherein they were removed from office,” he explained.
He added that a court judgment, ruling, or order was not binding on a person or organisation that was not a party to the suit.
The APC National Deputy Secretary emphasised that, in the light of this, the party only recognised its Tony Okocha-led Rivers Caretaker Committee, established to oversee its affairs in the state.(https://newsatlarge.ng)