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… Vows to Expel Member-Litigants
By Godwin Chukwumaechi, Port Harcourt
New chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State Chapter, Chief Tony Okocha, has described the nullification of his election as the state party chairman by a State High Court as a nullity that cannot stand legal scrutiny.
Hinging on the mantra that “Party is Supreme” he said that his election and subsequent inauguration which were eminently supported by the National Network Committee (NWC) of the party followed due process and could not be faulted by the state high court.
Speaking to journalists during activities marking his birthday celebration in his home in Rivers State, the Rivers State Representative in the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC accused the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara of being instrumental to the state High Court ruling, which also nullified all the state congresses held recently.
Okocha also alleged that the judiciary in Rivers state was synonymous to a supermarket where the governor assigns cases to any willing judge in the state and are paid for a job well done.
The Rivers State High Court, presided over by Justice Godswill Obomanu last week nullified the congresses in the state after a member of the Chief Emeka Beke’s camp filed a contempt of court against the congresses conducted by the Chief Tony Okocha Caretaker Committee.
Justice Obomanu in his ruling express surprise that the party went ahead to conduct the congresses despite the court order to the contrary.
But in his reaction, Okocha stated that the party followed due process in the conduct of the election saying that the national secretariat of the APC set up a valid time table for congresses and that he paid N3 million to buy form to contest for the chairmanship position.
“I campaigned and our members said I have been doing well and I won as chairman. I am not aware of any court judgment anywhere. They did not serve me”.
He explained that 18 national committee members led by the national chairman of the APC, Dr. Ibrahim Ganduje were in Port Harcourt recently to inaugurate his newly elected executive committee, which made the committee authentic because of the supremacy of the party.
Okocha vowed to expel the litigants from the party, adding that “I can’t sit here and allow anybody to embarrass the President”.
Okocha said “it is the party that decides who becomes the chairman of the party. Party is supreme. Let us pray that our state does not slide into chaos”, adding that there were several matters of the party subsisting in the Appeal Court. “State High Court is lower to the Appeal Court in rank”.
Okocha however thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the positive changes his policies were beginning to achieve since he assumed office, stating that with the President’s marching order for the rehabilitation of the Kaduna and Warri refineries to resume production, would further force the cost of fuel down.
