The caretaker committee, CTC, of the All Progressives Congress, APC, headed by Chief Tony Okocha has rejected the judgment of the Rivers State High Court delivered on Monday by Hon. Justice Sika H. Aprioku.
The judgment was sequel to a suit filed by Sam Etetegwung against Abdulahi Ganduje, national chairman of the APC and others with the Okocha CTC saying that thr judgment did not come as a surprise to the leadership of the party in Rivers State.
Recall that Hon Etetegwung, former State Secretary of APC brought an action challenging the decision of the APC dissolving the State Working Committee(SWC) in Rivers State on account of the anti party activities of members of that SWC during the 2023 general election in the state.
In a statement by Chibike Ikenga, publicity secretary of the CTC recalled that “the Leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Rivers State on sensing the overt interest of the Judge in the matter, petitioned to the Chief Judge of Rivers State requesting that Hon. Justice Sika H. Aprioku recuse himself from the case or the Chief Judge transfer the matter to another judge of Rivers State, but to no avail. Today, Hon Justice Sika H. Aprioku has vindicated us by his judgement”.
Ikenga noted that these matters were not vacation cases. “They were taken before vacation and adjourned. We were surprised that the judge had to call us back during vacation for a matter that has no urgency and no time limit. As a party in the suit, we never applied for the matter to be brought as vacation matter, the Chief Judge did not also serve us any application from the other party for that purpose.
“Interestingly, in his judgement, the Judge went against all the principles of law established by the Supreme Court of Nigeria and as we have known them as a political party, especially, in APC vs Igo Aguma, APC vs. Dele Moses, both originating from the same Rivers State High Court.
“In such a critical case challenging the decision and actions of the APC, the Judge said that APC need not to be joined as a party, yet it went ahead to make orders against the APC. Our lawyers raised objection which were totally ignored by the Judge. In the recent case of APC vs Dele Moses and APC vs Igo Aguma the Supreme Court restated that the court COURT DOES NOT HAVE JURISDICTION TO DABBLE INTO THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF A POLITICAL PARTY. However, the Judge holds the view that the Justices of the Supreme Court were wrong and so overruled them. The Judge also said the plaintiff does not have to exhaust the internal dispute resolution mechanism of the APC.”
Hon Ikenga revealed that the party had already instructed its team of lawyers to appeal the case. “We have instructed our lawyers to immediately take steps to appeal against the judgement. We are only worried for the judiciary. It is only a matter of time before the true motive for this kind of rebellious judgement against earlier decisions/judgements of the Supreme Court will be exposed.
“The Caretaker Committee of the APC, Rivers State, led by Chief Tony Okocha is still on the saddle and is fully in charge of the affairs of the party-APC in the State”.
He urged APC members to remain focused on rebuilding and repositioning the party in Rivers State and refuse to be distracted by persons, who might still be brooding over their political lose during the APC primary elections and the larger plot to undermine President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Renewed Hope Agenda.
Peoplesmind
