The Tony Okocha-led All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State has warned that it will expel party members who use the courts to tarnish the party’s reputation.
Speaking during a media chat in Port Harcourt on Sunday, Okocha disclosed that the party is appealing the recent judgement by Justice Godwin Ogbondah, which invalidated the state congresses held in November 2024.
A Rivers State High Court, presided over by Justice Ogbondah, had on Friday ruled the congresses invalid, stating that they were conducted in violation of an existing court order.
The suit was initiated by three aggrieved APC members—Okwu Joebrown-Ndike, Peace Oganu, and Samuel Uchegbule—who alleged that they were excluded from the congress process despite purchasing forms.
Okocha stated: “The day I was sworn in, I extended an olive branch to everybody. I said, come, let’s work together. But where it becomes impossible, and they are embarrassing the party, I will not sit idly by while they embarrass Mr. President.
“The APC is Mr President’s political party. For the National Chairman and 18 members of the National Working Committee, including Deputy National Chairmen (South) and other influential members, to come down here, anybody going behind, thinking they have the law and the cash to throw around, to embarrass the national secretariat of our party—I will not stand for it. I will expel them.
“Please take this message: I said I will expel them. If the kitchen is too hot, you get out.”
Okocha, the National Working Committee-backed State Chairman of the APC in Rivers State, clarified that the party’s national secretariat had announced the dates for the congresses well in advance, ensuring the process was open to all members interested in contesting for various positions, including the chairmanship.
He further explained that he ran unopposed for the position of state chairman during the congress, attributing his unchallenged candidacy to the confidence party members have in his leadership.
Okocha added: “Forms were sold. I bought my form for N3 million—please look at the records. Chairmanship aspirants bought for N3 million, same as Deputy Chairmen, cascading down to the Secretary. I bought mine for N3 million, and I was ready for the election. I was campaigning everywhere if anybody was ready to contest against me.
“But the people said, ‘You have done well. There’s no reason for us to change the winning team.’ I’m not aware of any court process whatsoever. I can’t be a soothsayer to know about anything called a court process. For what? By whom?
“Do you mean that our party leadership is so daft, so stupid, that they had to come down personally? I’ll tell you the process in our party: when you are elected, you carry the elected members of the executive committee to Abuja, where the National Working Committee will inaugurate you in a conference hall. But this case was different—that’s to show love.”
Okocha emphasised the supremacy of the party, citing Supreme Court judgements cautioning against judicial interference in internal party affairs.
He dismissed the recent court ruling, stating: “That judgement, as far as we are concerned, has no effect. We will keep doing what we are doing because we are within the ambits of the law. The party is supreme, and neither Ogbomanu nor anyone else they assign the matter to will decide for us how we run our political party in Rivers State.”
Okocha further accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara of exploiting the judiciary to create unrest within the APC in Rivers State. He criticised the governor for meddling in APC affairs and urged him to focus instead on re-registering himself as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, claiming Fubara is no longer recognised as a PDP member.
Okocha alleged that the governor has compromised the integrity of the state judiciary, describing it as his “supermarket,” where cases are assigned to judges of his choosing.
“All this braggadocio he is navigating around APC—he could have used it to register himself. I thought he would use all his powers as governor, all his influence, to put himself back into the PDP. He is not a member of any political party.
“I can tell you, if there is any election in the state, he has no party. The party that would have sponsored him—the PDP—will never present him because he is not their member.
“Now he is in the business of trying to divide and rule and make a mess of the entire judiciary,” Okocha concluded.
