An Appeal Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, has upheld the judgment of the Rivers State High Court nullifying the congresses that produced the Tony Okocha-led executive of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
But in a swift reaction to the judgment, the Publicity Secretary of APC under the leadership of Okocha, Chibike Ikenga, urged party members not to panic, stressing that the facts of the judgment were deliberately misrepresented.
Dismissing the appeal filed by Okocha and members of his executive as registered in Suit No. CA/PH/523/2024, which seeks to overturn a lower court’s decision on the party’s leadership, the appellate court struck out the suit and ordered the parties back to the State High Court.
It would be recalled that on December 20, 2024, Justice Obomanu of the Rivers State High Court nullified the APC congresses conducted in the state, ruling that the process that produced Okocha and other executive members was invalid.
Meanwhile, in a ruling delivered by Justice Elfreida Oluwayemisi Williams-Dawodu of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, on Friday, the court upheld the judgment of the High Court, thereby affirming the nullification of the congresses.
THISDAY observed that the judgment was delivered via Zoom.
The court upheld the sack of the Okocha-led executive. It nullified all actions taken on behalf of the APC in Rivers State by the dissolved executive between December 20, 2024, and the date of the ruling.
However, the Publicity Secretary of the Okocha-led APC in the state, Ikenga, has urged party members to remain calm, saying the facts of the judgment were deliberately misrepresented.
According to Ikenga, the circumstances and facts of the judgment were misrepresented by those who lacked in-depth knowledge of what transpired in the court.
The party’s scribe, in a statement made available to journalists in Port Harcourt on Saturday, said, “There is no threat to the status of the EXCO pending full trial. Our Lawyers will study the full judgment and advise on the next step.”
He explained, “Today (Friday), the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, delivered its judgment in an Interlocutory appeal (APPEAL NO: CA/PH/523/2024: APC & ANOR. V. OKWU JOEBROWN NDIKE filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the jurisdiction of the High Court to dabble into the internal/domestic affairs of the party, the Interim Order made by the High Court directing the parties to “maintain status quo,” and also challenging the competence of the suit before the Rivers State High Court.
“The Court of Appeal struck out the appeal and directed the parties to return to the Rivers State High Court for the hearing of the substantive case.
“The Court of Appeal, with all due respect, predicated its decision on the wrong assumption that the appeal relates to the just concluded Local Government Area and Ward Elections in Rivers State, and therefore held that an appeal touching on the issue of Local Government Area Council and Ward Elections must terminate at the Rivers State High Court,” he said.
Ikenga disclosed that they had applied for a copy of the judgment, assuring that “Once a copy of the judgment is made available, our lawyers will advise us on the next line of action.”
He added that “For the avoidance of doubt, this judgment delivered today has nothing to do with the State Congress wherein Chief Tony Okocha and other members of the APC State Executive Council were elected. The case involving the State Congress and the Executive members elected thereat, Suit No. PHC/3805/2024: Charles Enyidia & ORS VS APC was dismissed on 23rd March, 2026.”
Also in his reaction, a leading counsel for the Respondent in the Appeal suit, Mr Emenike Ebete, noted that the judgment was delivered via Zoom, stressing that the court struck out the appeal filed by Okocha-led APC against the ex parte order to maintain status quo by the lower court in favour of Emeka Beke-led APC leadership in the State.
Ebete expressed: “The judgment was via Zoom. We were sent a link for the judgment by 243. So we were on Zoom, and the judge appealed the bar’s judgment. Not only our own, but the bar’s judgment.
“He appealed that the issue was filed by Tony Okocha, against the Order of Obomamu that nullified the congresses that were conducted on why the matter was discussed. Now, you know, before those congresses were conducted, the court gave an ex parte order restraining them from conducting those congresses. They disobeyed the court’s order and went ahead, conducting the local government, the state, and all congresses.
“So, we then went back to the High Court and prayed that those congresses be nullified. They disobeyed the court order, and the court nullified the congresses. They appealed to the Court of Appeal against the ex parte order to maintain the status quo. In that appeal, they were saying that the court had no jurisdiction even to make any order at all and that the court should circle the suit for want of jurisdiction. If that had happened, they would have all gone.
“So, the court heard the appeal sometime in October. That appeal was dismissed because the court found it incompetent. So, the court just summarised its ruling. They struck it out. Meaning that the order that the High Court made nullifying the congresses still stands. That’s where we are.”
Blessing Ibunge
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