LG Poll: APC Group Sues Tony Okocha, Rivers Electoral Commission

The leadership crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has once again spilled into the courts — this time over who gets to sponsor candidates for the local government elections on August 30, 2025.

The faction loyal to Emeka Beke, who won the court case in the chairmanship tussle, has filed a lawsuit against the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) and Tony Okocha, who is backed by the APC National Secretariat, claiming that only the Beke-led executives have the constitutional power to conduct primaries and submit candidates.

The suit, with number PHC/3163/CS/2025, was filed at the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

The lead plaintiff, Awoala Emine, the Vice Chairman in the Beke-led executive, sued on behalf of the entire executive committee elected in 2021.

Twenty-three other individuals joined the suit, each claiming to be the authentic chairmanship candidates of the party for the local government poll.

The defendants in the case are the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), Tony Okocha, and all chairmanship candidates produced by the Okocha-led executive for the local government election.

The Beke camp insisted that, according to the APC constitution, it is only the State Working Committee (SWC) — which they lead — that can organise primaries and submit names to RSIEC.

The faction also leaned on two subsisting court rulings – One delivered in 2023 by Justice S.H. Aprioku, which nullified the national leadership’s attempt to dissolve the Beke-led exco, affirming that it remains in office until October 2025.

Another judgment in 2024, by Justice G.V. Obonanu, which threw out the controversial congress that brought in Tony Okocha as chairman.

According to the Beke faction, these rulings mean that Okocha is not, in law, the APC chairman in Rivers State.