The embattled Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State, Emeka Beke, has called on the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, to reverse the decision of the National Working Committee dissolving the party’s executive in the state.
Beke, while speaking in Port Harcourt on Thursday, said the tenure of the party’s executive in the state had yet to elapse.
Recall that the Ganduje-led APC NWC, on Wednesday in Abuja, announced the dissolution of the Rivers excos and replaced it with a caretaker committee to run the party’s affairs in the state for six months.
The chairman of the caretaker committee, Chief Tony Okocha, is a known ally of former Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party, who is now in alliance with the APC at the national level.
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President Bola Tinubu had given the Rivers ministerial slot to Wike of the PDP, ignoring APC members, including Tonye Cole, who was the party’s governorship candidate in the 2023 general elections.
Cole is an allay of ex-governor Rotimi Amaechi, an arch-political rival of Wike in Rivers State.
Announcing the dissolution of the Rivers APC excos on Wednesday in Abuja, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Mouka, said, “We have resolved at the NWC meeting that Rivers APC should be dissolved and a caretaker committee put in place. The committee will have Chief Tony Okocha as chairman and Eric Nwibani as Secretary.
“The inauguration of the committee members will take place here at the party secretariat on Friday.”
But reacting to the decision of the party’s national leadership on Thursday, the sacked chairman of the Rivers APC, Emeka, insisted that in line with the party’s constitution, only the NEC has the power to dissolve an elected state exco.
He stated, “What does the constitution of the party say? Only NEC has the moral right. I am surprised the NWC said it has that power. I don’t think there is any time the NEC gave them (NWC) the power to do that. It is so shocking and surprising.”
He warned Ganduje to tread with caution, describing him as a man who lives in a glass house.
“Ganduje knows how he became the National Chairman of this party. He is a man who is in a glass house; it is not good for you to throw stones. He has to reverse himself.”
On the claims that the action of the APC was to allow Wike to take over the party structure in the state, Beke said the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory is not a member of the APC.
According to him, “Well I don’t know because he is not a member of our party. Wike is not a member of the APC in Rivers State. He is not a member of the APC national level.
“But if the national has decided to do that, then what comes out of that they should be able to bear it.”
Also in a statement, the state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Darlington Nwauju, said the NWC does not have the powers to dissolve an elected executive, describing the action as extra-constitutional.
In the statement sent to our correspondent, Nwauju said, “The purported dissolution of the state executives of the APC in Rivers State is extra-constitutional and falls flat in the face of sound crisis management and peacebuilding.
“The NWC cannot without approval by the NEC take such extreme measures as dissolve duly elected executives of the party or grant waivers for any individual to occupy positions who is not qualified under our constitution to do so.
“Leaving our party in the hands of political undertakers is too much of a risk for all progressive-minded individuals in Rivers State.”
