Court bars APC from conducting congresses in Rivers
Justice Godwin Ollor of the Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has granted an ex-parte order restraining the All Progressives Congress (APC) from holding its congresses in the state.
The ward, local government, and state congresses were scheduled for the 11th, 16th, and 26th of October 2024.
The judge ordered that the APC national leadership led by its chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, and its secretary, Surajudeen Ajibola-Basiru, should not go ahead to conduct the exercise.
The other defendants were the APC, the Inspector-General of Police, the Nigerian Police, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In his ruling on the ex-parte motion, the trial judge also restrained the defendants either for themselves, their men, officers, or agents from conducting, supervising, holding, monitoring, or in any other manner conducting elections to make up the party's executive committee in the state.
Justice Ollor also restrained the national leadership of the party against any plan to suspend the chairman Chief Emeka Beke and his executives of the party (APC).
He equally restrained the National Chairman of the APC, the Secretary, and the APC from doing anything to interfere in the activities of the Chief Emeka Beke-led elected executive in the state pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice for interlocutory injection.
The judge explained that his ruling was based on the merit of the application and oral application by the counsel to the plaintiffs, Collins Dike.
He thereafter adjourned till September 9, 2024, for a hearing of the motion on notice.
The suit was filed by Peter Ohochukwu, Haija Ndidi-Chukwuma, and all elected executive members of APC in the state.
It would be recalled that a Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, on August 12, 2024, sacked the seven-man caretaker committee of the APC in the state led by Chief Tony Okocha.
The judge, Justice Sika Aprioku, issued a perpetual injunction against the Okocha-led caretaker committee and reinstated the Chief Beke-led executive as the authentic executive of the party.
However, the national leadership of the party had said that the judgment was not binding on them and therefore would not recognize the Beke-led executives.
