The Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal has upheld a Rivers State High Court order nullifying the All Progressives Congress (APC) ward, local government, and state congresses that produced the Tony Okocha-led executive committee in Rivers State.
Justice Godswill Obomanu of the Rivers State High Court had, on December 20, 2024, issued an ex parte order restraining the APC from conducting the congresses. Despite the order, the party proceeded with the exercises, which resulted in the emergence of Tony Okocha as state chairman alongside other executive members.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Okocha and his executive committee filed an appeal marked CA/PH/523/2026, contending that the High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter and was therefore not empowered to issue the restraining order.
However, in a judgment delivered by Justice Elfreida Williams-Dawodu, the Court of Appeal affirmed the jurisdiction of the High Court and struck out the appeal for lacking competence.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the Emeka Beke-led APC faction, Emenike Ebete, said the appellate court’s decision means the High Court’s order nullifying the congresses remains valid.
“Before the congresses were conducted, the court issued an ex parte order restraining the APC from holding them. The party disobeyed that order and went ahead with the ward, local government, and state congresses. We subsequently returned to the High Court and sought an order nullifying the congresses on the grounds that they were conducted in defiance of a subsisting court order, and the court granted our request,” Ebete said.
He explained that Okocha’s camp appealed against the ex parte order, arguing that the High Court lacked jurisdiction and urging the appellate court to strike out the suit.
“If that argument had succeeded, the order nullifying the congresses would have been set aside. However, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that it was incompetent. Although we are yet to receive the full judgment, the implication is that the High Court’s order nullifying the congresses remains in force,” he added.
Ebete further clarified that the appeal is separate from an earlier judgment delivered by Justice Sika Aprioku, which removed Tony Okocha and his executive committee as the leadership of the APC in Rivers State.
Meanwhile, the APC has expressed disagreement with the Court of Appeal’s decision.
In a statement signed by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Chibike Ikenga, the APC said it had applied for a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment and would determine its next course of action after reviewing the ruling.
“We have applied for the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered today. Once the copy of the judgment is made available, our lawyers will advise us on the next line of action,” the statement said.
