By SCM Correspondent
The legal and political battle for the control of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State took a dramatic turn yesterday, as the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld a lower court order nullifying the ward, local government, and state congresses that produced the Chief Tony Okocha-led executive committee.
The Okocha-led faction is fiercely loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
The controversy stems from an earlier ex parte order issued by the Rivers State High Court, which restrained the APC from conducting the congresses that ultimately installed Okocha’s executive. Seeking to overturn the ruling, Okocha approached the appellate court, arguing that the high court lacked the necessary jurisdiction over internal party affairs and was not empowered to issue the restraining order.
However, in a judgment delivered on Friday, the appellate court panel, led by Justice Elfreida Williams-Dawodu, dismissed Okocha’s appeal.
The court affirmed that the Rivers State High Court did indeed have the jurisdiction to entertain the matter and subsequently threw out the appeal for want of competence.
In a swift reaction to the judgment, the Tony Okocha-led faction moved to downplay the impact of the ruling on its leadership structure.
The Publicity Secretary of the faction, Ikenga Chibike, issued a statement assuring party faithful that there is no immediate threat to the status of the executive committee.
According to Chibike, the appellate court’s decision does not mark the end of the road, as the substantive matter has yet to undergo a full trial.
”Our legal team will study the full judgment and advise on the next appropriate steps,” Chibike said, urging members to remain calm and focused.
The appellate court’s ruling is the latest chapter in a bitter, protracted feud for the soul of the APC in Rivers State, which is deeply intertwined with the broader power struggle between FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and his successor,
The crisis traces back to late 2023 when the APC National Working Committee (NWC), heavily influenced by shifting political alliances in the state, dissolved the democratically elected Rivers APC executive led by Emeka Beke—a loyalist of former Transport Minister Chibuike Amaechi.
Okocha, an ally of Nyesom Wike (who, despite being a member of the People’s Democratic Party, serves in the APC-led federal cabinet), effectively shifted the structure of the Rivers APC toward the FCT Minister.
The Emeka Beke faction challenged their dissolution and the subsequent congresses organized by Okocha’s caretaker committee. They secured an injunction from the Rivers State High Court which declared the Okocha caretaker committee illegal and barred the party from conducting the congresses that sought to formalize Okocha’s leadership. Beke was subsequently reinstated by the high court as the legitimate chairman.
Yesterday’s Court of Appeal ruling heavily reinforces that high court decision.
By declaring Okocha’s appeal incompetent, the appellate court has left the legal ground beneath the Wike-backed faction highly unstable, dealing a significant blow to the minister’s efforts to maintain a structured stranglehold on both the PDP and APC machinery in Rivers State.