The embattled Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Emeka Beke, has requested the National Chairman of the Party, Abdullahi Ganduje, to reverse the decision made by the National Working Committee (NWC) to dissolve the party leadership in the state. Beke, speaking in Port Harcourt on Thursday, argued that the tenure of the party’s executive in the state has not yet expired.
The Ganduje-led APC NWC had declared the dissolution of the Rivers executives on Wednesday in Abuja, appointing a caretaker committee to oversee the party’s affairs in the state for a period of six months.
Chief Tony Okocha, who heads the caretaker committee, is associated with former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor Nyesom Wike, currently in a national coalition with the APC. Notably, President Bola Tinubu appointed Wike, a member of the PDP, as Rivers minister, overlooking APC members like Tonye Cole, the party’s governorship candidate in the 2023 general elections, who is an ally of ex-governor Rotimi Amaechi, Wike’s primary political adversary in Rivers State.
In response to the national leadership’s decision, Emeka, the ousted chairman of the Rivers APC, argued on Thursday that, according to the party’s constitution, only the National Executive Committee (NEC) has the authority to dissolve an elected state executive committee. He expressed surprise at the NWC’s assertion of such power, stating, “What does the constitution of the party say? Only NEC has the moral right. I am surprised the NWC said it has that power. I don’t think there is any time the NEC gave them (NWC) the power to do that. It is so shocking and surprising.”