By Emeka Amaefula
REASONS WHY APC WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN RIVERS STATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION—TONY OKOCHA REVEALED
The Tony Okocha led All Progressives Congress APC Rivers state chapter held a stakeholders meeting on Wednesday 21st of August, 2024 where he briefed the members on key highlights of a myriad of issues affecting the political party in Rivers state political landscape. He went down memory lane and explained to members why there’s no parallel APC faction existing in Rivers state as events leading to the emergence of Caretaker Committee which he is the Chairman in Rivers state came as a result of the wisdom of the supremacy of the Political party in making sure that APC in Rivers state is repositioned for optimal performance immediately affect the 2023 General elections. “Let me specially welcome you members of our party, It is incumbent on us who you have given responsibility to superintend the affairs of our party to brief you on what is going on and on what we have done and on what we will do going on further.
“ The National Working Committee, working under the power given to them by the National executive Council NEC of our party, on their own seeing records , going through records, following trends in Rivers state APC decided that the only way forward was to dissolve the cabinet led by Emeka Beke. And threw us up. Some of you who were around immediately after the election noticed that all of us were running to Abuja in different groups. But the party in their wisdom…after the consideration of a lot of variables…National Working committee who are responsible for day to day running of the party decided that Emeka Beke and the rest should be removed and appointed us. We didn’t contest elections with anybody. Did we? So, this case is not a case of parallel leadership. I hope you agree. Had we contested the election and one side won, I would have come to you…it means the National would have been accused of bias at that point. I didn’t contest the election with anyone. I wasn’t even interested, all I saw was they wrote Letter to us informing us that we have been appointed to superintend over the affairs of the party and they immediately gave us six months as a result because they were happy with what we have done, they have also given us another six months to expire on 5th of December 2024. So, I am at the saddle till December. Is the party not supreme?
On the 13th of August, 2024, history was made in Rivers state as the crowd was unprecedented just a Walk for President Tinubu and it was over 50,000 persons that walked 7 kilometres. It was organic support.”
The second point he got the nod of the party members was the issue of participation of APC in Rivers state Local Government election to be held on 5th October 2024. He asked party members “Is APC contesting in the 5th October, 2024 election?”
Chief Tony Okocha who is the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Rivers state chapter of APC took a detailed explanation of the reasons behind the decision of APC chapter in Rivers state led by him not participating in the Local Government election. He advanced the issue of screwed process against the laws establishing the conduct of Local Government Councils elections. He challenged the organisers of the Rivers state Independent electoral Commission deliberately not involving his political party in the stakeholder’s meetings held by the electoral commission. “We are in the Court and I will not speak on any matter that’s in court. The most I can explain to you is to say that they will not conduct the election that they announced behind us. We’re not part of the decision about the election on the 5th of October, 2024. We have gone on air on the 19th of January 2024 to tell Rivers state electoral Commission Chairman and the Commission itself to discontinue the process of that Local Government election at the time it was still within the ambit of the law of the state, because the law says 3-months to the expiration of the tenure of the Chairman of the Council the electoral body should organise election with the process starting with timetable released and all that inside that 3-months election will hold. What they are doing today will not work. You can’t go and conduct Local government elections in Rivers state without a party like All Progressives Congress, do you agree? And know that the Peoples Democratic Party is not in the race. Are you aware? So, the reason we went to court is not because we don’t have the numbers. I can assure you and you know it by yourself that we have men and women of timber and calibre that can contest all the elections and win. But we see that the process couldn’t be seen to be transparent. I was a whistle-blower because I know that the election will not represent the opinion of those who will vote. It’s already stereo-typed The outcome has already been written. If you do carry a knife will you allow someone to carry a knife for your back? We have done this very well, we are not neophytes like they are. We have been in party formation. We have been through elections in this state. They are just coming in and they need to learn from us how we succeeded. So, if you want to go by goodwill and good approach. The day they said they held stakeholders’ meeting-I wasn’t invited. I mean APC in Rivers state was not invited to that Stakeholders Meeting when the decision was taken. It was a deliberate plan to ignore us. Until the process that puts it in place is transparent and is in tandem with the law. And as a party, we are not aware of the election. There’s an adage in Ikwerre that says ‘If you take a decision behind a strong man, you will take it twice.”’
Currently Rivers state APC is challenging the Rivers state electoral Commission RVSIEC seeking for the court sitting at Federal capital Territory to stop the 5th October, 2024 Local Government Election because of the political party which he leads in the state was excluded from the processes leading to the decisions taken by the RVSIEC to conduct the election in the 23 Local Government Areas that will produce 23 Local Government Council Chairmen and 319 Wards that will produce 319 Councillors all in Rivers state. And the Supreme Court of Nigeria had given judgement in the autonomy of the Local government administration as the third tier of Government in Nigeria. This also abolished the Caretaker Committee appointed by state governors in place of elected officers to administer the affairs of Local Government as third tier of Government in the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria.
———Emeka Amaefula—-+234(0)8111813069.————-
