The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has talked about what their National Working Committee (NWC) said after bringing back the leaders under Emeka Beke.
On Friday, the Publicity Secretary, Darlington Nwauju, sent a statement. He said that the NWC’s response doesn’t follow the law.
Nwauju’s statement showed surprise. He couldn’t believe that an important part of the ruling party would ignore a real court decision. This could scare away businesses from Nigeria.
He stressed that businesses need the law to be followed so they can grow.
“This makes Nigeria look like a place where laws aren’t respected. But this same party and government use the courts when it suits them,” he said.
“We are very shocked that such an important part of our party could ignore a real court decision in our democracy.
“This mistake is very dangerous and could frighten investors because businesses need the law to be strong to thrive.”
The state party made it clear that court officers did give the court’s decision to the National Secretariat.
They also said no one should act for the APC Rivers State without permission from Emeka Beke and his team. If they do, this goes against what the court said, and they will have to go back to court.
In the statement, Nwauju also disagreed with what Deputy National Secretary, Festus Fuanter, said. Fuanter said the court had dissolved the APC Rivers State executives, which was incorrect.
The statement said Fuanter didn’t understand what happened, and his view was wrong.
“We have to say clearly that the current NWC is slowing down our party’s progress. They are not helping the different voices and causing disagreements,” Nwauju announced.
“Mr. Fuanter talked about a mysterious case that removed all elected APC Executives in Rivers State. But this is misleading and was never shown in court as evidence for their decision on November 22, 2023.”
“People should read the 48-page judgment by Justice S.H. Aprioku in Suit No. PHC/CS/3592/2023. The case was brought by aggrieved members of the State Executive Committee, not the Chairman.”
“We know about Suit No. PHC/CS/925/2023 handled by Justice D.S. Kio. This judge suspended two party officers for 14 days through an Ex-parte Order, which has now ended.”
“Recently, many different stories have been shared by Tony Okocha, who benefits from the party’s problems in Rivers State. He called Justice S.H. Aprioku’s ruling ‘procured’ but supported rulings by Justice D.S. Kio and P.O. Lifu. Okocha hasn’t explained why these judges delivered rulings that help his political goals.”
The APC Rivers State criticized the NWC, saying they are hurting party unity and progress.
They asked the NWC to look at the judgment fairly that brought back the Beke-led team and to stop actions that might distract President Bola Tinubu from his goals.
Finally, the statement talked about rumors that some people are trying to suspend the state executives and get a new judgment from an Abuja High Court out of desperation.