The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State has clarified that the court order in the suit filed by Omiete Efrebo and nine others against the state chairman of the party, Emeka Beke, and two others was vacated by the same judge.
Efrebo and nine others had obtained an interim injunction on April 12, 2023, restraining Beke and two others from acting as chairman and legal adviser of APC and suspending them from the party.
The suit was filed at the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt.
The Deputy National Secretary of the APC, Festus Fuanter, in a media briefing in Abuja, noted that the appointment of a seven-member caretaker committee led by Tony Okocha was based on court orders against Beke’s executive team.
In response, Rivers State Legal Adviser Iheanyichukwu Dike stated that the interim injunction issued on April 12, 2023, by Justice D.G. Kio was vacated on January 30, 2024.
He said the court struck out the substantive suit and awarded a cost of N200,000 against Efrebo and nine others, in favour of Beke and two others.
Dike, in a statement on Wednesday, also revealed that after the interim order was granted on April 12, 2023, Beke and the others filed an interlocutory appeal at the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt challenging the order.
However, they promptly withdrew the appeal upon learning that the order had already been vacated in January 2024.
The notice of withdrawal of the appeal was filed on August 26, 2024.
Dike emphasised that the case between Efrebo and the others against Beke and the two others “is no longer pending in any court.”
He urged the public to disregard any rumours and claims from those he described as “enemies of the APC in Rivers State.”
