•As Tony Okocha Empowers hundreds of widows, indigent women for Christmas
Emmanuel Nlewedum, Port Harcourt
The Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha said his administration will take drastic measures to end the lingering crisis plaguing the party in the state.
Okocha, while reacting to a recent court ruling which nullified the congress that produced him as chairman of the party, threatened to expel some aggrieved members of the party who he alleged is working with Governer Siminalayi Fubara to embarrass the national secretariat of the party and the president through the state judiciary with frivolous court cases.
He accused Governor Fubara of meddling into the affairs of the APC in the state, and influencing the outcome of the court cases against the party, while urging him to refrain from such acts or face the wrath of God.
Recalled that a Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt, presided over by Justice Godswill Obomanu had last Friday in a suit filed by some aggrieved members of the party in the state led by factional chairman, Emeka Beke, nullified the local government and state congresses of the APC in the state, citing contempt of court.
The court had a day to the state Congress issued an injunction stopping the conduct the exercise in the state, but the APC ignored the court order and continued with the congress.
Addressing Journalists on the sidelines of his birthday celebration on Sunday at his residence, where he empowered hundreds of widows and indigent women with rice, vegetable oil, wrappers, and cash gifts, etc, Okocha said state executive of the party which he is leading as chairman is not perturbed by last Friday’s Rivers High Court judgement, as they are fully recognised and backed by the national leadership of the party.
Okocha who explained that the process of the congress which produced him as APC Chairman in Rivers State was made open to all members of the party to contest, while forms were sold to all those interested, expressed disappointment at activities of some judges in the state, prompting him to describe the judiciary in the state as the governor’s supermarket.
He maintained that party decisions in the the case of APC in Rivers State remains supreme and that no court can decide for the party on who becomes it’s chairman or executives, stressing that there are plethora of judgements of superior courts barring lower courts from dabbling into party affairs.
“The day I was sworn-in, I extended an olive branch to everybody to join us and build the party but where it becomes impossible, I would not sit down and see them embarrass the party, embarrass Mr President and the party.
“The APC is Mr President’s party. For the National Chairman of the party and eighteen other National Working Committee members to come down here and then anybody is going behind because you think you have the law, you have the cash to throw around and you want to embarrass the national secretariat of our party, I will not sit down here and watch that, I will expel them. It is a political party,” Okocha vows.
Okocha said even though he’s not aware of the processes of the case, he has however, directed the party’s lawyers to appeal the judgement of the lower court.
“Gentlemen, I’m not aware of the processes but, as a law abiding party, we have advised our lawyers to go to Court of Appeal.”
“That judgement as far as we are concern has no effect. We’ll keep doing what we are doing because we are within the armbits of the law, the party is supreme and Justice Obomanu and whoever again they will assign the matter to will not decide for us how we’ll run our party,” Okocha stated.
In the meantime, the Special Adviser to Governor Fubara on Electronic Media, Mr Jerry Omatsogunwa, has responded to Tony Okocha accusations against the principal. He said Governor Fubara no time to meddle into the affairs of the APC, and that he cannot in any way influence the judiciary against the party.
He said the governor is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and an active member of the PDP Governors’ Forum and has been attending their meetings.
He advised Chief Okocha to obey court orders and stop blaming the governor for his party’s crisis in the state.