A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has sacked the seven-man caretaker committee of the All Progressive Congress in the state, led by Chief Tony Okocha.
The committee was inaugurated by the National Working Committee of the APC, who had sacked the elected executives of the party led by Chief Emeka Beke.
Justice Sika Aprioku, presiding over the court, reinstated the Chief Emeka Beke-led executive as the authentic executive of the party in the state. Aprioku issued a perpetual injunction against the Tony Okocha-led caretaker committee, restraining them from taking further steps that would distract the Beke-led democratically elected executive till the expiration of their four years’ tenure.
The court also restrained the National leadership of the APC from further recognizing the Tony Okocha-led executive and compelled them to henceforth begin to recognize Beke’s led executive as the authentic executive of the party till their four years’ expiration.
Aprioku slammed the Independent National Electoral Commission for supporting the dissolution of democratically elected executives of APC, cautioning that “leadership of political parties must learn to obey their own constitution and stop acting recklessly and in impunity in managing their own party.”
He held that the National Working Committee of APC failed to prove reasons for their actions, which he said was in violation of their party and Nigeria’s Constitution, insisting that they relied on hearsay of anti-party activities which was not demonstrated by the defendants in the suit.
The judge dismissed preliminary objections by the defendants on the issue of justification and application for joinder by a set of individuals who had earlier sought to join in the suit, further holding that the National leadership APC disobeyed their own constitution by not giving fair hearing to elected party executive, and thereby awarded three hundred thousand naira as cost in favor of APC led by Chief Beke.
The court held that “APC cannot benefit from their illegality” and that the inauguration of the seven-man caretaker committee of APC led by Chief Tony Okocha is “null and void and of no effect,” insisting that the CTC Chairman and members “never existed in the eyes of the law.”
The court further struck out a suit by Ezekiel Ubom on behalf of Ward elected executive of APC for not following appropriate procedures in filing of the processes.
