Rivers crisis: Court nullifies Rivers factional APC congresses, inaugurations

…Slams 10m penalty on defendants

The congresses and inaugurations conducted by the National Working Committee (NWC)-backed All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State have been nullified. The congresses had returned the caretaker committee chairman, Tony Okocha, known as a Nyesom Wike diehard, as substantive chairman of the party in Rivers State.

The national acting chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje, whose NWC backs Wike, Okocha and the caretaker committee, arrived Port Harcourt in December 2024 to inaugurate the executive committee where he called on those that went to court to trace their ways back.

Now, a Port Harcourt high court ruled Friday, December 20, 2024, that the congresses and inaugurations were held in utter contempt of court.

The judge, Godwin Obomanu, the judge that ordered on November 21, 2024, that congresses be halted but they went ahead to conduct LGA Congresses on 23 and state congresses on November 30, 2024, said they were in utter disrespect of court order and court processes.

He said the Okocha team, having become aware of the pendency of the court orders issued on November 21, 2024, and served on parties on November 22, 2024, should have halted the congresses.

The court thus awarded cost of N10m against the defendants (Okocha APC, Ganduje, etc).

The Port Harcourt high court had issued an ex parte order stopping the conduct of congresses in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State.

The order was obtained on November 19, 2024, to debar the NWC of the APC which had concluded arrangements for the congresses which began on November 16, 2024 with word congresses.

An ex parte order is usually issued in matters considered so urgent that it cannot wait for the attention of the other party, and it is generally put in place until further hearings can be held. It is a restraining order.

The order came same day the Wike-backed faction of the Rivers APC lost a major case at the Federal Appeal Court in Abuja aiming to nullify the October 6, 2024 LGA elections which Gov Sim Fubara’s foot soldiers won in the Action Peoples Party (APP). The court of appeal struck down the judgment of the Federal High Court Abuja where the justice, Peter Lifu, had nullified the LGA elections and granted orders stopping the federal allocation to the state.

Now, some APC members who said they bought forms to contest the congresses but were denied the forms went to the high court. They are Okwu Jiebrown Ndike, Peace Oganu, and Samuel Uchegbule for the others in the ca Suit No. PHC/3859/CS/2024

A different high court in Port Harcourt has sacked the Okocha-led caretaker committee of the APC, recognizing the Emeka Beke elected executive committee.

The Court i

Had also ordered that the Okocha-led APC congresses should not hold. The court had thus halted the marching order on August 16, 2024, by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC to the Caretaker Committee (CTC) of the party in the state to conduct ward, council, and state congresses.

The court order was an experte restraining the national leadership of the APC led by the chairman, Ganduje, the secretary, Surajudeen Ajibola-Basiru, from going ahead to conduct planned congresses scheduled to hold on 11th, 16th and 26th October, 2024.

Other defendants in the suits filed by Peter Ohochukwu and Hajia Ndidi-Chukwuma for themselves and all elected executive members of APC in the state include APC as a party, the Inspector-General of Police, the Nigeria Police, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Read also: Rivers crisis now in auto-pilot

The justice, Godwin O. Ollor, in his ruling on the ex-parte motion also restrained the defendants either for themselves, their men, officers or agents from conducting, supervising, holding, monitoring or in any other manner conduct election to make up Rivers State Executive Committee of APC in Rivers State.

Ollor, who insisted that his ruling was based on the merit of the application and oral application by the plaintiff counsel, Collins Dike, also restrained the national leadership of the party against any plan to suspend the Emeka Beke-led executives of the party in the state.

The court also went further to restrain the national chairman of APC, the secretary, and the APC from doing anything to interfere in the activities of elected executives of APC in the state led by Beke pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.

Now, the outcomes of activities carried out after the court orders have now been nullified, probably signaling appeals at federal appeal courts that may take uncertain turns.