Mohammed Shosanya
The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha, has declared that the local government council elections billed for October 5 will not hold.
Okocha,who made the declaration at the party secretariat in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, during its expanded stakeholders meeting,explained that the development is due to ongoing litigation the electoral body was enmeshed in, instituted by the APC.
He said the APC was in court to stop the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC from conducting the elections because it failed to adhere to the legal stipulations that mandated it to conduct elections three months before the expiration of the outgone elected chairmen.
He said:“The topical issue to be discussed is the issue of is APC contesting elections on the 5th of October? We are in court and I won’t speak on any matter that’s in court. The much I can say to you and the course of action is to restrain the agencies that would conduct that elections that they announced behind us.
“My dear people, what they are doing now as we speak and 5th of October as they are talking about will not work. It will not work. You can’t go and conduct local government elections in Rivers State without a party like the APC, and am told too that PDP is not in the race.
“We were not part of the decision for an election on the 5th of October. We had gone on air on 19th of January to tell the RSIEC Chairman and the commission itself to commence the process of having elections. At that time, it was still within the ambits of the law of the state because the law says three months to the expiration of the tenures of the council that the electoral body should organise election, the process should commence, timetable released and all that and twenty one days inside that three months.
He noted that although the APC in the state had all it takes to participate and massively win in the proposed elections, it decided to shun it because the process was flawed to embarrass the APC.
“Let me tell you the reason we went to court, it’s not because we don’t have the number or we don’t have the strength. I can assure you and you know by yourself that we have men and women, caterpillars and bulldozers that can contest all the elections and win.
“We are saying that the processes should be seen to be transparent so that we don’t just go and work on hurdle thorns. That was why some of you were worried that something went viral even though it was a side talk but what do I care? I was only doing a whistle blower for that matter because I know that that election will not represent the interest or opinion of those who would vote. It is already stereotyped, the handout has already been written.”
He added:“We have been in party formations and party elections for many years in this state. They are just coming in and they need to learn from us how we succeeded. So if we want to go by good news, good approach. He would not succeed , we would not agree.”
“There was a day they said they had stakeholders meeting. I was not invited. The APC Rivers State was not invited to the stakeholders meeting where the decision for October 5th elections was taken. So we cannot participate in that because there was a deliberate plan to axe us and make us worthless. So we went to court.”
He stated that the party would only participate in the elections if the process made to be more transparent.
“We are not saying we won’t contest elections for those of you who they may have told you that, that’s not our contention. Our contention is until the processes that have been put in place or they want to put in place is in tandem with the law first and we are carried along in the entire arrangement as a party
“We won’t accept that. I won’t expose you to that kind of trauma where you go and spend your money even if we say we are going to assist you, some of you would sell land, some of you would sell house, some of you will do everything possible to generate funds and then we know that that fund you’re generating for that election will go into the dungeon, do you think that we should allow it?
Also speaking,the former Chairman of the APC in the state, Ojukaye Flag Amachree, urged the dissolved executives of the party in the state led by Chief Emeka Beke to accept the decision of the National Working Committee that dissolved it in good fate, adding that no court order can reverse the decision of the NWC concerning them.
“You know, as once the Chief Executive of this Party, the head of this party (APC) in Rivers State and what is happening now happened to me. You know, as chairman of this party, we had crisis under my leadership as well, we had the Magnus Abe faction, rhen Tony Okocha was on the other side.
“So we had all those issues and at some point in time, the national working committee of our party looked at the whole scenario in Rivers State and decided that we can’t be having all of these problems and for that reason, they are going to dissolve my executives and appoint Caretaker Committee. Did it not happen? I took it in good fate and went to my house.
Ojukaye added:“You know that Emeka Beke was my secretary then, so I know him very well, he knows that the highest body in this party is the NWC, that is why when I was told that my executives have been dissolved, I supported the appointed caretaker committee as a true party man and somebody who loves this party. That is what I expect my brother and former secretary to do also, this his antics won’t work..
“So my job here is to encourage you people and to say you are on the right track, the national working committee of the party has said is Tony Okocha that is our chairman, there is nothing more to say, even if you like go to United Nations and bring a court judgment, it won’t work.”
