APC chieftain, caretaker committee chairman bicker over recognition of defectors

ACHIEFTAIN of the All Progressives Congress ( APC) in Rivers State, Emeka Bekee, has said that the members of the state Assembly who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) to the APC are not recognised.

Bekee, while speaking during a Port Harcourt- based radio station programme, yesterday, monitored by The Guardian said that the Constitution is explicitly clear that when one leaves a party that elected him or her into office, that seat remains vacant.

The APC chieftain added that the defected lawmakers did not follow due process, arguing that they defected to play the script of one man to the detriment of peace in the state.

Bekee’s factional state APC- led executives loyal to former Governor Chibuike Amaechi were dissolved by the national leadership of the party last year. The matter is still pending in court.

Meanwhile, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the APC in the state, Tony Okocha, argued that a single man cannot decide for 26 lawmakers which party they should belong to. Okocha stated that the lawmakers’ decision to join the APC shouldn’t be contested by anyone.

Okocha noted that Bekee is not a member of APC and does not have the interest of the party at heart.

“No member of a political party will see a harvest of 26 lawmakers and go on air to declare them non- members,” he said.

He noted that the matter is in court, and it is within the right of the lawmakers to decide the party they want to belong to, cautioning Bekee to cease from speaking on behalf of APC, because he is no longer a member of APC.

On his part, Beke also said that he does not recognise the party’s Caretaker Committee Chairman, insisting that he is the duly elected party chairman in the state, and that his tenure has not ended.

The APC chieftain also called on party officials to allow Governor Siminalayi Fubara to function effectively in his position because he is satisfied with the achievements recorded by the governor.