Subheading: Emeka Beke, Ally of Rotimi Amaechi, Calls for Reconsideration of NWC Decision
The embattled Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Emeka Beke, has called on the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje, to overturn the National Working Committee’s (NWC) decision to dissolve the party’s leadership in the state.
Beke, a close associate of former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, made this appeal in Port Harcourt on Thursday, emphasizing that the tenure of the party’s executive in the state has not yet expired.
The dissolution of the Rivers State executives was announced by the Ganduje-led APC NWC on Wednesday in Abuja, with a caretaker committee led by Chief Tony Okocha appointed to oversee the party’s activities in the state for six months. Okocha is known to be associated with former Peoples Democratic Party Governor Nyesom Wike, who is currently in a national coalition with the APC.
Notably, the caretaker committee head, Tony Okocha, has ties to Wike, while President Bola Tinubu appointed Wike, a PDP member, as Rivers minister, bypassing APC figures like Tonye Cole, the party’s governorship candidate in the 2023 general elections and an ally of ex-governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is Wike’s main political opponent in Rivers State.
Reacting to the national leadership’s decision, the ousted chairman of the Rivers APC, Emeka, argued on Thursday that, according to the party’s constitution, only the National Executive Committee (NEC) has the authority to dissolve an elected state executive committee. He expressed surprise at the NWC’s assertion of such power, considering that he believes the NEC did not delegate such authority to them.
