Caretaker Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers state, Sir Tony Okocha, has revealed a plot to hijack the party in the state and subordinate it to the state government to frustrate President Bola Tinubu’s reelection in 2027.
Okocha stated that Emeka Beke and Barr. Iheanyichukwu Dike were suspended from the State Working Committee for engaging in anti-party activities. He also claimed that the APC was not part of the suit that led to the Rivers state High Court sacking the caretaker committee and reinstating Emeka Beke as Chairman.
Okocha said: “Beke was imposed on the APC in Rivers state… I was a member, an ally of Senator Magnus Abe when he was fighting right inside the APC. The reason why we fought was ineptitude, political high-handedness and imposition.”
He also accused Beke of being a product of imposition and having low academic qualifications, saying: “We imagine how a person of lowly academic qualifications can preside over a meeting that some of us would attend… The truth was that he wanted a surrogate, a stooge who would do his bidding.”
Okocha alleged that there is an intention to use Beke to fight President Tinubu in 2027, saying: “There is an intention to throw up Amaechi’s man and then he becomes the APC leader and then use the APC to fight Mr President in 2027. We will never allow that.”
He also criticized Beke for referring to Rotimi Amaechi as the leader of the party in Rivers and the South South, saying: “Amaechi and his group aligned with PDP’s Atiku while Wike and his group from the PDP worked with us.”
Okocha stated that the APC in Rivers state will not go back to its “social club status” and that they will use the law to challenge the court judgment, saying: “We are in court. We are law abiding… We will use the law and we are ready to go the whole hug to the supreme court.”
