…as party dissolves Benue exco, sets up 7-man caretaker committee
Tony Okocha, chairman of the caretaker committee (CTC) that was sacked by the Court but fully backed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC), has reaffirmed that the party would not take part in the October 5, 2024 local council election proposed to hold in Rivers State.
Okocha also said the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) might not participate. Both parties are believed to be in the control of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, as a result of which the State governor is believed to be on his way out of the ruling party in the State.
Okocha spoke when he called expanded stakeholders meeting of the APC at the Secretariat on Aba Road which is in opposition to the camp led by Emeka Bekee.
Okocha said the reason for not participating was because the party was in Court against the decision to organize election without the APC, whereas, he stated, his party was the one calling on the electoral body to come out with an election timetable.
Okocha said the grouse of his camp was that the LGA election had a timeframe provided by law, and wondered why the state government did not follow that framework, which is 90 days before expiration of the tenure of a current council executive.
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He said he did not want to lead the party members to a trap called election where results had been decided.
“A head hunter does not allow anyone with cutlass to pass at his back. We have done these things before”, he said.
Meanwhile, the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has dissolved the entire Executive of the party in Benue State, inaugurating a seven-man Caretaker Committee to run the party in the State.
Performing the Inauguration Ceremony at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, APC National Chairman, said the decision became necessary to save the party from total collapse, citing Article 13 of the APC Constitution.
The National Chairman urged the Caretaker Committee to unite the party in Benue State in order to conduct party primaries for the forthcoming local government elections and give appropriate party portfolios to the Committee members to suit relevant party roles.
Responding on behalf of the Committee, the new caretaker chairman, Benjamin Omale, thanked the NWC for the responsibility and pledged to unite all aggrieved members of the party in Benue State to form a united force that would continue to win, urging APC members in Benue State to bury their grievances and come together in the overriding interest of the party and the State.
