Gross misbehaviour and financial mismanagement were levelled against some of the suspended executive members.
There are indications that the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State may be facing a new crisis. The State Chairman of the party, Emeka Beke, has reportedly been suspended, according to some State Executive Council members.
At a press conference in Port Harcourt, the executive members also made the suspensions of the state’s legal adviser, Iheanyichukwu Azubuike, and its publicity secretary, Darlington Nwauju, public knowledge.
They made allegations of serious wrongdoing, financial mismanagement, and participation in anti-party actions against the suspended executive members.
Omiete Eferebo, the State Deputy Chairman, led the unhappy excos, while Chike Enyinda, a state official, read their communiqué.
The executive members also criticised Rotimi Amaechi, the party’s state leader and most recent minister of transportation, for failing to carry the APC to victory in Rivers State after stepping down as governor in 2015.
The excos further accused Amaechi of engaging in anti-party actions, claiming that before to the 2023 presidential election, the former governor instructed APC members to support Atiku Abubakar, a candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The party’s prospects of winning the state-level elections were allegedly harmed by this direction, which the party’s disgruntled executive members blame on Amaechi’s failure as leader to issue a counter-directive during the gubernatorial and State assembly elections.
They continued by saying that Amaechi, rather than expressing regret for his purportedly unsuccessful leadership, publicly lambasted the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, for allegedly playing a role in the appointment of INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
The APC executive members stated that despite his continuous disagreements with the new presidential government, Rotimi Amaechi’s activities have put the State Chapter of the APC in a difficult position as he continues to enjoy sole control of the party’s state quota at the national level.
Thus, they requested that the APC national leadership look into Rotimi Amaechi’s activities in Rivers State and take the necessary steps to reposition the party.
In the interim, the disgruntled executives named Omiete Eferebo, the Deputy Chairman in Rivers State, to function as the State Chairman.
In addition, they named Mr. Chike Enyinda, who read the statement, as the acting spokesperson and the State Legal Adviser’s successor while they awaited the results of an impartial inquiry by a committee the party would form.
The 10 executive members who attended the media briefing signed the communiqué, and the All Progressives Congress State Secretariat had not yet responded to the news as of the time this article was filed.
