The Tony Okocha-led Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has restated that the party will not participate in the local government council election scheduled for October 5, 2024.
It said rather that he had approached the courts to obtain a restraining order against the election, which the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission RSIEC, had declared its date as sacrosanct.
The National Working Committee-backed caretaker committee chairman, Chief Tony Okocha reaffirmed the party’s position at an expanded stakeholders meeting of the APC at the Secretariat on Aba Road.
He said the reason for the action was because the APC was not part of the decision to hold the election pointing out that the party was not invited to the new where the governor election was agreed upon by the RSIEC.
Okocha hinted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Fubara’s political party likely not participate in the election.
He explained that even though his party was the one calling on the electoral body to come out with an election timetable when the date was to scheduled he was not invited as the leader of the APC.
Okocha said the grouse of his camp was that the LGA election has a time frame provided by law, and wondered why the state government did not follow that framework which is 90 days before expiry of the tenure of the last council executive.
He said he did not want to lead the party members into a trap called election where the results had been decided. “It is already stereotyped”, he stated adding; “A head hunter does not allow anyone with cutlass to pass at his back. We have done these things before.”
On the recent high court ruling sacking his caretaker committee, he said “Our happiness is that it is the court of first instance. We have filed and appeal and a stay of execution of the judgment”
He however said the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party has endorsed the CTC that he leads in Rivers.
“The Party has spoken. The Party is supreme,” he said urging the members to go home and sleep. This thing we are holding, we are holding it strongly.
In his contribution, a senator, Wilson Ake, said the meeting was historical as it was the first time in a very long time the APC had not come together in this manner as a family.
He called for a vote of confidence on Tony Okocha and the CTC for their efforts to unite the party.
Also speaking, Ojukaye Amachree, one-time chairman of the APC in the state, said dissolving an exco and appointing CTC was not known. “I was chairman. They dissolved us and appointed Caretaker, I went home. Let Emeka Bekee go home and stop this game. It won’t work.”
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