As party’s NWC decline to endorse outcome
Says the matter is in court
Admin l Sunday, June 03, 2018
PORT HARCOURT, Rivers, Nigeria – The claim by the faction of the Rivers State All Progressives Congress, APC, led by Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, that it conducted congresses in the state, in its bid to hijack the executive positions of the party at the ward, local and state levels, has suffered a setback. Supporters of the minister were shocked at the resolution of the APC’s National Working Committee, NWC, which met at the party’s headquarters, in Abuja, on Friday, June 1.
According to the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the NWC could not take a decision on the outcome of the contentious ward, state and local government congresses in the state because the legality of the electoral process is before a Rivers State High Court.
He told Journalists, in Abuja, that the NWC had, on Friday, June 1, resolved the contentious issues in most of the state chapters were the conduct of the ward, local government and states congresses were in dispute, adding that the party’s national organ would attend to four states on Monday, June 4.
Abdullahi stated: “We have just about four more states to resolve. Lagos, Oyo, Rivers and Bayelsa. We cancelled the Bayelsa exercise because the electoral committee that went there spilt and could not agree on the outcome. So, we cancelled it. Rivers is a court matter and the panel will resolve Oyo and Lagos”.
Going by Abdullahi’s statement, Rivers APC appears unique. The Senator Magnus Ngei Abe’s faction had trumpeted on the eve of the ward congress, scheduled to hold on Saturday, May 5, that there were deep-seated attempts by Amaechi to hijack the process and foist his loyalists on the party.
The top-brackets of Abe’s faction maintained at different fora even before the dates of the ward, local government and state congresses were announced by the party that Amaechi, a former two-term governor of the state was frantically averse to Senator Abe’s desire to contest for the 2019 gubernatorial election on the platform of the APC in Rivers State.
Unknown to Amaechi and his supporters, the Abe faction had gone to court to file a motion seeking to stop the purported congresses in the state. Notice of the motion in court was served and received by the Rivers State Deputy Chairman of the party, Peter Odike.
However, the Amaechi faction went ahead and conducted the ward congress, claiming that there was no injunction restraining the party from conducting the said congress.
On the day of the ward congress, State Chairman of the party, Chief Davis Ibiamu-Ikanya, said he had not been served any injunction, adding that what was being paraded by the Abe’s faction was a Motion on Notice, which he argued was not a restraining order asking the APC to halt the process of the congress.
Up to 5.PM, on Friday, May 4, over 16, 000 members of the APC who paid for nomination forms at designated banks and were issued tellers had not secured their nomination forms. Thousands of them, many from rural areas – some making their journey by boats, spending up to three hours or even more on water, thronged the state secretariat, along Forces Avenue, in Port Harcourt, to collect their forms.
No member of the State Working Committee, SWC, or the national congress committee was available and no nomination form was issued to prospective aspirants. Harried aspirants were later dispersed by a combine team of security operatives shooting tear-gas and live bullets. And some persons sustained various degrees of injuries.
At about 12 noon, on the day of the election, Saturday, May 5, the Chairman of the Rivers State Congress Committee. Joseph Dogo, commenced radio announcement, asking aspirants with bank tellers to go to their wards and participate in the exercise, upon presentation of their tellers. The announcement was still on as at 2.pm, on Saturday, May 5. Amaechi who spoke on Friday, May 4, stated that the congresses would be conducted on the paradigm of Option A4. He explained that “no electoral materials will be used. Voters will have to queue behind the candidate of their choice.”
Supporters of Senator Abe maintain that they heard of Dogo’s name for the first time on radio. They claim not to have seen him. Abe’s supporters further insist that as stipulated by the electoral guidelines of the APC, the congress committee was required to address stakeholders at least 24 hours before the exercise and which Dogo failed to do.
They further maintained that the party guidelines has stated that all aspirants were to collect their nomination forms and go back to their wards and secure signatures of guarantors from the units at their respective wards; and return the nomination forms to the party secretariat within 24 hours. Abe’s supporters also claim that since the congress breached these salient provisions of the electoral guidelines of the APC, its group will not participate, insisting that no congress held in Rivers State, on Saturday, May 5.
So, Senator Abe’s faction went to court to seek redress rather than participate; or be content with simply boycotting the ward, local government and state congresses; or resort to holding a parallel congress. Going by Abdullahi’s explanation on the position of the NWC of the APC, Senator Abe’s group would have lost out if it had not approached the court.
In many APC states, some groups held parallel congresses. But according to Abdullahi, only the congresses that were supervised by the electoral committees set up by the NWC would be recognised. His argument: “It is settled in law that one cannot complain about a process he didn’t participate . There would be nothing to protest because there was no participation.”
In this wise, the crises in Cross River, Delta, Kogi and Kwara states were resolved in favour of congresses supervised by the electoral committees from the party’s headquarters in Abuja.Justice Chiwendu Nworgu of the Rivers State High Court had granted an injunction, on Friday, May 11, restraining the APC from conducting the local government congress scheduled to hold, on Saturday, May 12. Ibiamu-Ikanya who stated that the party has not been served insisted that the local government congress will go ahead as scheduled. On Friday, May 18, the national headquarters of the party cancelled the ward and local government congresses.
The letter which was signed by the National Chairman. John Odigie-Oyegun; National Secretary, Mai Bala Bunu and National Legal adviser, Muize Baniire, rescheduled the ward congress for Saturday, May 19; the local government congress for, Sunday, May 20; and the state congress for, Monday, May 21.
Addressing a news conference, at Senator Abe’s campaign office, Freedom House, along Evo Road, GRA, Phase 2, in Port Harcourt, on Saturday, May 19, former attorney-general of Rivers State, Worgu Boms, who read the text insisted that a letter of such magnitude should have been stamped with the date of issuance clearly stated.
The stakeholders stated: “From the letter purportedly issued on Friday night, May 18, on the controversial ward and local government congresses held in Rivers State, the guidelines of the party concerning the conduct of congresses have not been altered in any way.The undated letter signed by two of the signatories mentioned in the letter rescheduled the purported congresses which are already a matter of litigation before the court. From the content of the letter, we, hereby, state our position on the matter.”
“The guidelines of the party concerning congresses stipulates that that nomination forms should be completed and returned 24 hours before any congress is held. And that position has not been altered, or changed, or modified in anyway. The said ward congress is on now less than 24 hours after the national officers from the party’s headquarters, in Abuja, cancelled the process that had transpired and ordered that fresh congresses be conducted.”
“As it is, aggrieved aspirants have less than 24 hours to fill their forms and make complaints to the organisers of the congress should they have any reason to do so, which is against the electoral guidelines of the party. Going by the tone of the said letter, there is no provision for a stakeholders meeting as provided for by the electoral guidelines of the party to inform members of the party on how the congresses will be conducted.
“It is impracticable to fix congresses in quick succession of days. And even if the congresses were spaced into weeks, there is a crucial and major roadblock to what they are doing.” Boms stated that the roadblock was the suit currently pending at the Rivers State High Court. The Amaechi faction had gone ahead to conduct the rescheduled ward, local government and state congresses. The state congress began at 6. AM, on Monday, May 21, ostensibly to ward off any attempt by Abe’s group to secure an injunction restraining the exercise from holding.
Ojukaiye Flag-Amachree, a former Chairman of Asari-Toru Local Government was said to have been elected state chairman on consensus. But Senator Abe speaking at his 53rd birthday event, at Freedom House, his campaign office, said the former state officers of the APC remained the authentic officers of the party.
He pointed out that Chief Ibiamu-Ikanya did not resign as the state chairman of the party, so the position couldn’t have been contested for without Ibiamu-Ikanya’s resignation. On Wednesday May 11, Justice Chiwendu Nworgu, nullified the local government congress and the rescheduled ward, local and state congresses of the All Progressives Congress, APC, held on May 19, 20 and 21, respectively.
Justice Chiwendu Nworgu ruled that the May 11 and the rescheduled congresses held by the APC in Rivers State amounted to gross disobedience of a court order after the Legal Adviser of the party, Chieme Chiewenke Azubike, was duly served with the order of the court.
The court ruled that the status quo of the APC remained as it was before May 11, adding that there was no evidence of an appeal transmitted to the court or through the registrar of the court as claimed by the Counsel to the APC, Teduru Edeh. Justice Nworgu maintained that there was proof that the legal adviser to the APC in the state was duly served with the order of the court contrary to the claim of the counsel to the APC.
Justice Nworgu described the action of the APC in going ahead to conduct the May 11 congress and the rescheduled congresses as a gross violation of the order of the court.The judge adjourned the matter to June 26 for hearing of the substantive suit. In his reaction, the new Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the APC, Ojukaiye Flag-Amachree, elected at the state rescheduled congress, held on May 21, said he remains the chairman of the party in the state.
As it is, it is getting increasingly uncertain whether the delegates claimed by the Amaechi faction of the APC to have been elected on May 19, May 20, and May 21, for the ward, local government and state congresses, respectively, can effectively and legally participate in the APC national convention scheduled for June 19, in Abuja, since the NWC has deferred the matter to the court, whose authority was hitherto brushed aside by the Amaechi faction.
