A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt, presided over by Justice Godwin O. Ollor, has issued an order preventing the All Progressives Congress (APC) from conducting any congresses in the state. This order comes in response to a motion filed by a faction of the APC led by Chief Emeka Beke, who challenged the planned congresses.
The APC faction, under the leadership of Tony Okocha as the Caretaker Committee Chairman, had scheduled Ward, Local Government, and State Congresses for October 11th, 16th, and 26th, 2024, respectively. These congresses were intended to elect substantive executives at all levels of the party in Rivers State.
However, Justice Ollor granted an ex-parte motion, effectively restraining the APC's National Leadership, including Chairman Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Secretary Surajudeen Ajibola-Basiru, from proceeding with these planned congresses. The court's ruling also applied to the Inspector General of Police, the Nigeria Police, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who were named as defendants in the suit filed by the Emeka Beke-led executives of the APC in Rivers.
Justice Ollor's order specifically prohibits the defendants, along with their representatives or agents, from conducting, supervising, or participating in any activities related to the election of the Rivers State Executive Committee of the APC. The court emphasized that this ruling was made based on the merit of the application and the oral submission by the plaintiff's counsel, Collins Dike.
Additionally, the court restrained the APC's National Leadership from taking any actions that could interfere with the activities of the Emeka Beke-led executive in Rivers State, whose tenure is set to expire in 2025. The court order will remain in effect pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction.
The trial judge, Justice Ollor, has adjourned the case to September 9, 2024, for the hearing of the motion on notice.
This legal development follows a previous ruling on August 13, 2024, by another Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt, presided over by Justice Aprioku Sika, which nullified the appointment of the seven-member caretaker committee of the APC in the state, led by Tony Okocha. That ruling reinstated Chief Emeka Beke and his executive as the legitimate leadership of the APC in Rivers State.
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