Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) and a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has described the judgment of a Rivers State High sitting in Port-Harcourt, delivered by Justice Godswill Obomanu, which had nullified the Local Government and State Congresses organized by the Tony Okocha-led faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, as victory for democracy and a huge setback for marauding undemocratic forces in the State led by Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister.
The purported Congresses according to Eze, were conducted in bad faith to replace the Chief Emeka Beke-led State Executive Committee of the Rivers APC whose tenure is still running and yet to be terminated by effluxion of time.
Justice Obomanu’s judgment followed a contempt of court proceeding by the authentic Chairman of the party, Emeka Beke.
The Rivers APC has been neck-deep in fresh sewage since the appointment of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as National Chairman. At first, Ganduje whose clear mandate was to unite the party and repair its fractured soul arising from the compromised outcome of the party’s presidential primary which saw the emergence of Bola Tinubu, appointed a caretaker committee to take over the administration of the party while the tenure of the congressionally elected state officials led by Emeka Beke, was still subsisting.
This deliberate gaffe by Ganduje became a subject of judicial interpretation in suit nos PHC/3592/CS/2023 between Sam-Sam Etetegwung v. Abdulahi Ganduje & Ors and PHC/3735/CS/2023 between Chief Barnax Ezeboy Enyi & Ors v. All Progressives Congress, where Justice Aprioku J. delivered judgement in favor of the congressionally elected party executives whose tenure runs till October 2025.
Dissatisfied with the judgement, Ganduje quickly arranged for Ward, LGA and State congresses for the Rivers APC and the planned exercise received a judicial knock when the court ordered Ganduje who appeared to be acting for the APC, to stay further action on the conduct of the said congresses pending the determination of the suit. However, in defiance of the order of court, they proceeded in their illegality and thereafter, Ganduje personally arrived in Port Harcourt to inaugurate a factional executive committee recruited from a faulty and judicially offensive process.
The Rivers APC through its Chairman Chief Emeka Beke, filed contempt of court proceeding where Justice Godswill Obomanu, after listening to the submissions of parties nullified the congresses and slammed on the defendants a fine of N10,000,000 for acting in contempt of a competent order of court.
Nevertheless, in brazen disobedience to the subsisting court order, the Wike-backed APC went ahead to conduct the Congresses at the LG and State levels. The new executives from the congresses were also inaugurated on December 14, by the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje.
However, in a judgment on suit delivered on December 20, the presiding Judge, Justice Obomanu was minded to nullify the congresses of the party, citing contempt of court. By this, the ruling had effectively rendered the congresses, which produced one Tony Okocha and his co-traveling demented undemocratic elements, null and void.
Reacting on the judgment, Chief Eze, a close ally of a former Rivers State Governor and Minister of Transportation under the President Muhammad Buhari’s government, Barr. Rotimi Amaechi,
said the judgement has shamed the likes of APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, Tony Okocha and other undemocratic hirelings, for attempting to foist none members on the Rivers APC.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Port-Harcourt, Chief Eze specifically, commended the Justice Obomanu, for the industry and justice of the issue put before him for adjudication, which he dutifully discharged without fair or favour, ill will or affection.
The pronouncement of the court, Eze said, was a watershed and landmark judgment, which has also enriched the country’s jurisprudence, further reaffirming the court as the bastion of justice for the common man.
The issue at stake had far-reaching implications on the existence of APC and internal party politics in Rivers State and Nigeria in general, as some treacherous, irrational persons and money mongers wanted to hijack the APC structure in the State to advance their selfish interests.
With the judgment, the judiciary has once again proven that it is not all the time that justice must be compromised by money bags or seen to be purchased by the highest bidder.
The decision of the High Court has in deed upheld the fundamental rights of the authentic APC members in Rivers State under the leadership of Emeka Bekee, while putting an end to the crass quest for power and mediocrity being championed by Wike and his new errand motorboy, Tony Okocha.
This judgment is a significant victory for democrats and APC loyalists alike, who believe in the supremacy of internal democracy over despotic moves by selfish and tyrannical politicians, who want to control an entire party structure for personal aggrandizement.
The court’s decision reaffirms the importance and sanctity of rule of law, and sends a strong message to Ganduje, Wike, Okocha and their hangers-on that court orders are sacrosanct and therefore, must be obeyed in this country.
I commend the court for its wisdom and courage in delivering this judgment, while also extending our gratitude to supporters/allies and well meaning members of the APC in Rivers State for their unwavering support throughout this legal battle.
This judgment is not just a win for the Rivers State APC but a victory for the entire lovers of democracy in Nigeria.
We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that this judgment is enforced and that justice is served.
At this point, I advise Ganduje to seek how to revive his dwindling and scandalous political fortunes and restoring APC to power in Kano and leave Rivers State people to have peace.
It is totally bemusing, embarrassing and despicable for Ganduje to condescend so low to dance to Wike’s devious tune by going ahead to inaugurate Rivers APC party executives despite a valid order by a court of competent jurisdiction restraining the conduct of Congresses in the State.
The APC Chief said Ganduje is one of the major clogs on the wheel of APC’s progress and in fact, a threat to democracy and rule of law in Nigeria. He said Ganduje imprudently disobeyed every order of Court in respect of the matter just to ensure that the structure of the APC in Rivers State is handed formally to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who also claims to be the leader of PDP in Rivers State.
With the judgement, Chief Emeka Beke’s tenure has been cemented and preserved till 2025, which is the due date for a new Congress as there were no vacuums that could warrant the actions of conduct of congresses.
In the circumstance, I wish to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the Chief Emeka Beke – led Rivers State leadership of the party and the entire members of the APC, who have waited patiently and conducted themselves in a peaceful manner despite provocations from the camp of the adversaries.
The APC bigwig called on Mr. Tony Okocha to stay off the concerns of the Rivers APC, describing him a snooping rabbit and saboteur contracted by the FCT Minister to further decimate the party and turn it into an arm of his political estates to the detriment of democracy and contrary to the spirit of partisan politics.
The likes of undemocratic Ganduje, traitors like Okocha and antidemocratic forces pervading the country’s political landscape are the real enemies of Nigeria’s democracy, who must be stopped now and disgraced out of power.
