The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced its decision to boycott the October 5, 2024, local government elections. This decision was made known by Tony Okocha, the sacked Caretaker Committee Chairman, during an enlarged APC stakeholder meeting in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
Okocha explained that the party’s decision to boycott the elections was due to their exclusion from the stakeholders’ meeting where the decision to hold the elections was made. He stated that the party had gone to court to stop the election processes, insisting that the party was not part of the decision-making process.
It bears mentioning that the meeting, which had in attendance loyalists of Senator Magnus Abe, including Senator Wilson Ake and former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Wogu Boms, also discussed the party’s grievances with the election processes.
Okocha emphasized that the party’s decision to boycott the elections was not due to a lack of strength or numbers but rather a desire to ensure transparency and fairness in the election processes. He accused the state government of deliberately planning to make the APC worthless and stated that the party would not participate in an election where the results had already been decided.
The APC National Working Committee (NWC) has thrown its weight behind Okocha, who was sacked by the court but remains the chairman of the caretaker committee. The NWC’s support for Okocha has further divided the party in Rivers State, with the camp led by Emeka Bekee opposing Okocha’s leadership.
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Meanwhile, the APC NWC has dissolved the entire executive of the party in Benue State, inaugurating a seven-man Caretaker Committee to run the party in the state. The decision was made to save the party from total collapse, citing Article 13 of the APC Constitution.
It is worth noting that the development in Rivers State has sparked concerns about the fate of the local government elections, with the APC and PDP, the two major parties in the state, likely to boycott the polls. The state governor, who is believed to be on his way out of the ruling party, has been accused of controlling both parties in the state.
