By Jude Opara
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has granted an ex parte order to serve the Rivers State chairman of the Action People’s Party, (APP) Sunny Wokekoro, the 23 chairmanship candidates of APP in the upcoming Saturday election, and the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, (RSIEC) through substituted means.
Hart Badom, Destiny Omereji, and four others are in court seeking the reinstatement of Badom as the legitimate State Chairman of APP, while calling for the removal of Sunny Wokekoro from the position.
The plaintiffs are also challenging the legitimacy of the 23 chairmanship candidates, questioning when they became members of the APP in the state.
They are seeking a declaration that all actions taken by Wokekoro be considered null and void.
It would be recalled that when the case was mentioned, the plaintiffs’ counsel, Excel Omeghara, applied for an ex parte motion to serve the defendants through substituted means, a request that was granted by the presiding judge, Justice Emmanuel Obele.
APP has gained prominence in Rivers State in recent months, following its adoption as the platform for loyalists of Governor Siminalayi Fubara to contest the October 5 local government elections.
The APP’s chairmanship candidates, many of whom were formerly members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, switched to APP amid internal disputes within PDP in the state.
Although Governor Fubara is expected to automatically assume leadership of PDP upon taking office, as stipulated in the party’s constitution, his predecessor and political benefactor, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has refused to step aside, leading to a leadership crisis within the PDP.
Meanwhile, PDP in Rivers State announced its decision to boycott the upcoming local government elections.
State PDP Chairman Aaron Chikwuemeka reaffirmed this position during a press briefing in Port Harcourt last Monday.
Chikwuemeka and PDP state executive in Rivers remain loyal to FCT Minister Wike.
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