Rivers APC faction accuses Ganduje of plotting to delete those upon whose blood the party was built in the state

…Warns against denigrating innocent judges

A faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has accused the acting national chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje, of plotting with some others to delete the names of those on whose blood the party was built in the state years ago.

The faction which is loyal to former governor of the state, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, said in a press conference in Port Harcourt Monday, December 23, 2024, that Ganduje and his group in Rivers State were bent on denigrating innocent judges in the state.

The press briefing which was addressed by the publicity secretary of the dissolved executive council, Darlington Nwauju, reminded Ganduje how he promised internal democracy for the APC on the 3rd August 2023, after his ratification by national executive council of the party.

The faction led by Emeka Beke had obtained a court order sacking the caretaker committee that Ganduje put together, mostly made up of loyalists of Nyesom Wike, FCT Minister that is a kingpin of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Beke camp also got a court order stopping the congresses of the Ganduje-approved faction and also obtained a court ruling nullifying the inauguration of the result of the congresses, being an executive committee headed by Tony Okocha, Wike’s arrowhead in Rivers State.

Now, the Beke-led APC told newsmen: “We are worried that Ganduje is doing everything possible to bully the very principles of progressivism upon which our party was founded and to even imagine the peculiarity of the Rivers State chapter of the party where tons of human beings had their lives cut short for their membership of the APC.

“It is sad that there is a conspiracy to delete the memories of all our supporters who unfortunately lost their lives. They now want to rewrite the history of the party here in Rivers and ensure that justice is not served on sponsors and perpetrators of those barbaric crimes that took place in 2015, 2019 and 2023.”

The statement said the APC has suffered avoidable media bashing in recent weeks and months due to the dictatorial leadership style of Ganduje who allegedly seems to be in such a hurry to rewrite history of their painful history.

The camp said Ganduje managed to get the national working committee (NWC) to wipe away the elected committee and replaced them with a caretaker committee. “Choosing to make undemocratic utterances which give a black eye to internal party democracy and by so doing, arming opposition parties with points to de-market the APC while discouraging investors from investing in Nigeria as the very national chairman of the ruling party has kept telling the international community by his actions, that the party has no regard for orders of court.”

Nwauju accused Ganduje of arming the supporters and loyalists of the FCT Minister (immediate past governor in Rivers State) who is in another party. He said those persons were created as caretaker committee to oust the elected people.

Nwauju said the actions of Ganduje were reversed by a Port Harcourt High Court but that Ganduje and Okocha have subjected the court’s decision to media trial by those who received the necessary judicial hammer. “It may interest you to note that a similar move to illegally dissolve elected State Executives of the Benue State chapter of APC was equally set aside on November 28 2024 by a Justice, T.A. Kume, of a Makurdi High Court for similar reasons as clearly elucidated in Aprioku’s judgment which favoured elected executives of the party in Rivers State.”

Nwauju went on: “Gentlemen, one of the reasons for talking to the media today is to expose the satanic lies peddled by these individuals who are obviously pretending to be democrats but their actions keep exposing their underbelly. Let it be known that a court in Benue State took a similar stand as the Port Harcourt High court by frowning at the fact that the APC willfully and barefacedly chose to throw her own constitution to the dustbin and there is no court anywhere that can encourage despotism. It is, therefore, only a higher court that can set aside the judgment orders issued by Aprioku and importantly, entering an appeal cannot also stop the enforcement of Aprioku’s judgment as beneficiaries of such order are bound by law to reap the fruits of that judgment.

“Again, since the High Court judgment is on appeal and Court of Appeal fixed 4th and 12th February 2025 to hear the matter, what was (is) the rush in countering the order of Court?”

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Reacting to the threat by Okocha on his birthday to suspend the faction that went to court, Nwauju said Beke and the rest were the rightful officers of the party in the state. “Accusing us of collaborating with the Governor of Rivers State to embarrass the APC is bizarre. If we may ask, which of the APCs? The one they sabotaged in 2015, 2019 and 2023? Is it the same APC that they abandoned to join the SDP, jumped ship to openly campaign for the PDP and Gov Fubara? Or is it the APC they claim they belong to that is peopled 80% by supporters and loyalists of the FCT Minister? The APC all of whom Wike bought forms for? I think they should be talking about PDAPC not APC. Well, we do not understand how persons who by the clear judgment of court have no business discussing our party affairs nor stretching their luck by impersonating the executives in the state can delve into the realms of expelling the landlords of the party in the State. These individuals still talking to the press (Okocha and his friends) are not officers of our party and have never been. These chaps are supposed to be cooling off behind bars for being contemptuous of court together.”

On Okocha’s accusation that the Beke camp of the APC was collaborating with Gov Sim Fubara to trouble the (Wike) APC faction, Nwauju asked to know if it is the Rivers Beke APC camp actions that also led to the November 28th 2024 nullification of the contraption Ganduje attempted to impose on the Benue State chapter of our party?

He also asked to know if it is the Rivers Beke APC that is also responsible for the court cases over party executives in Enugu? “Or the deep differences within the Bayelsa, Abia, Kwara and other chapters of the APC?

“Is it this alleged collaboration that also forced Ganduje’s NWC to conduct two guber primaries in Edo State and also led to the embarrassment Ganduje brought the party by congratulating the wrong candidate on February 17th 2024?

“Is it this collaboration that miraculously provided the private jet that ferried Ganduje and his delegation from Abuja to PH on December 13th 2024?

“Is it this collaboration that yielded the thousands of dollars distributed through the delegation to Port Harcourt on December 13th?

The Beke camp accused the Wike APC and Ganduje of not knowing anything about the Constitution of the APC.

“Finally, we invite Nigerians to take note of two unimpeachable facts: That the judgment delivered by the honourable justice, Sika Aprioku, of the Rivers State High Court on August 12th 2024 in favour of all elected officers of the party in the state from Ward, LGA to State still subsists and has not been vacated; and that another court presided over by Godswill Obomanu has also nullified the so-called congresses”.