Recall that the Rivers APC held both congresses amidst serious disagreements by sections of the party faithful who felt dissatisfied with the conduct of the congresses claiming, in the ward that some interested members were disenfranchised by the election process while in the case of the local government the issue of a subsisting court injunction against the Congress was raised.
As the party was getting prepared for the state congress scheduled to hold yesterday across the country a letter purportedly signed by the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun, Bala Bunu, National Secretary was received cancelling the earlier congresses and announced new dates for them to be reconducted.
According to the undated letter, the ward congress was fixed for Saturday 19th of May from 10am-1pm while the new date for the local government congress is Sunday, May 20 and the state congress moved to Monday 21st of May.
“For those who paid and were not able to collect the forms for the ward congress,” the statement advised, “they should proceed immediately to the State Secretary or the State Administrative Secretary of the party to collect the required form, fill and submit same.
“For those who may wish to participate or contest in the local government and state congresses, the need to make payment into the bank is hereby waived. Instead, cash payment may be made to the Rivers State Secretary of our party or the State Administrative Secretary and receipt travails of the party in the state and be assured that the party shall overcome the travails.
It announced the setting up of appeal panels saying, “two appeal panels each have been constituted for the ward, local government area and state congresses at the venue of the state secretariat.”
Meanwhile, the Sen. Magnus Abe faction of the APC, which secured the court injunction that has thrown the party into the crisis appeared not assuaged by the efforts of the party to reconduct the congresses.
Though Sen. Abe declined to comment on the latest developments with the congresses other members of his faction picked holes in the action of the APC National Executive.
Two prominent members of the faction and Federal lawmakers, Hon. Chidi Nwihioka, representing the Ikwerre Emohua Federal constituency in the House of Representatives and his colleague, Hon. Maurice Brone, representing the Khana/Gokana federal constituency in a joint statement described the action as subjudice saying they were not happy with the statement by the APC.
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They argued that everyone knows that the matter of the Rivers APC ward and local government congresses was a subject of litigation before Justice C. Worgu High Court “and as such, no person or authority can exercise adjudicatory power over the court.”
The statement added that as a law-abiding party, it would continually hold the judiciary in high esteem and could not do anything without regards to the court urging members of the party to disregard the statement issued by the National Chairman of the APC fixing congresses for 19-21st of May.
It stressed that no other date should be determined until the substantive matter before the court was resolved.
Nwihioka stated that he would not participate in any congress until the case in court has been concluded.
Hear him; “am not among those that invade the court or disobey court orders. Until that order is vacated APC cannot organise any other congress, that is the law, that is what the court order said. So if APC is doing any other thing they are going against the law. I won’t be part of it. And the purported letter they are talking about is not dated, the National Legal Adviser did not sign it and there is no seal on the letter which means that letter is fake.”
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