By Tina Amanda
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has granted an ex parte order to serve the Rivers State Chairman of the Action People’s Party (APP), Sunny Wokekoro, the party’s 23 chairmanship candidates in the upcoming local government elections, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) through substituted means.
The order was granted in response to a lawsuit filed by Hart Badom, Destiny Omereji, and four others, who are challenging the leadership of the APP in Rivers State.
The plaintiffs are seeking the reinstatement of Hart Badom as the authentic state chairman of the party and the removal of Sunny Wokekoro from the position.
In their suit, the plaintiffs also question how the 23 individuals, who are now APP chairmanship candidates, became members of the party in the state. They argue that any actions taken by Wokekoro in relation to these candidates should be declared null and void.
When the case came up in court, the plaintiff’s counsel, Excel Omeghara, applied for an ex parte motion to serve the defendants through substituted means. The presiding judge, Justice Emmanuel Obele, granted the request.
Speaking outside the courtroom, counsel to the plaintiffs, Excel Omeghara, told our Correspondent that his clients are the authentic members of APP Party Rivers State and that is why they approached the court.
“My clients are the authentic leaders and stakeholders of APP Party who emerged as leaders of the party through the 2022 Congress supervised by INEC in Rivers State.
“We are in court to say our clients remain the authentic Chairman and EXCOs of the party both at the State and local government. For instance, the 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs are subsisting local government Chairmen of APP in their various LGAs.
“They are in court saying they have not resigned or removed. They want the court to determine who is the authentic Chairman of APP, is it the card-carrying PDP members or the APP members who were elected on this platform supervised by INEC in the 2022 Congress?
“Does it automatically translate that when their chairman resigned from his position, the whole EXCO was no longer in existence? We are saying that section 78 of the APP Constitution says where a position becomes vacant the Deputy will automatically assume, but in the event, that the Chairman and Deputy resign an EXCO member of the party will be refilled in that vacant position.
“The day Atata resigned the remaining EXCO’s appointed Hart Badam and he has been the APP Chairman from that day. It is a piece of shocking news to hear that one Sunny Wokekoro a member of PDP is now the Chairman of APP, he has never been a member.
“We want to know when Sunny Wokekoro became a member of APP, who appointed him? is Wokekoro not governed by the constitution of APP, will he not first become a member, before being appointed as an EXCO member?
“That is our case, it is simple. These plaintiffs remain the authentic APP leaders in Rivers State”.
Hart Badom, one of the plaintiffs, recounted how he became the state chairman of the APP and explained why he is seeking the court’s interpretation of the current situation within the party.
Badom insisted that the individuals who are now chairmanship candidates are not recognized members of the APP.
“Clearly, APP Party has a constitution, we can not fold our hands and watch our party being hijacked by people who are not members of our party.
“On the day Kenneth Atata resigned his position, I was not under any duress to become the State Chairman. My people sat, they called me, and made me the party Chairman, following our constitution I am the authentic party Chairman in Rivers State as of today.
“Wokekoro I do not know him from Adam, he is not a member of the APP party. We do not know how he managed to become the Chairman of APP in Rivers State, so he should tell the court”.
