AAC suspends Rivers excos over endorsement of PDP gov candidate

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the African Action Congress (AAC) has suspended the executive committee of its Rivers State chapter. The suspension follows the endorsement of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate Sir Siminialaye Fubara by the Inter‑Party Advisory Council (IPAC), in which the state AAC chairman, Dr. Chukwunenye Kocha, was listed as a signatory.

In a notice signed by AAC National Secretary Ina Agu and sent on Wednesday, the NWC reported that, after a fact‑finding meeting, Kocha was found “complicit” in the endorsement. Citing Sections 49(iii) and 52(iiL) of the party’s 2018 constitution, the NWC announced that the State Executive Committee is suspended indefinitely, with immediate effect.

To manage the state chapter pending further direction from the central leadership, the NWC appointed a Steering Committee comprising Ken Henshaw (Chairman), Enefaa Georgewill (Secretary), Tonye Sippoto‑Pepple (Member) and Oshiokue Philip (Liaison to the NWC).

Reports indicated that IPAC and an Atiku Abubakar Support Group in Rivers State had adopted Fubara as their candidate, urging voters to support him in the upcoming governorship poll for the sake of fairness. The AAC promptly distanced itself from this endorsement, stating on its Twitter handle that it “completely distances itself from this shenanigan and was never part of the endorsement of @GovWike’s candidate Sim Fubara.”

When contacted on Thursday, AAC chairman Kocha, whose name appeared among the IPAC signatories, denied attending the endorsement meeting. He explained, “Yes, my name was quoted but I wasn’t there. I had to call the IPAC leadership; they thought I would be there, but I had other engagements.” He added that the party was not involved in the endorsement and that he had been attending a rally for one of the party’s assembly candidates, as well as handling domestic matters.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rescheduled the governorship elections for Saturday, 18 March, moving them a week later from the originally planned 11 March. INEC has already begun distributing sensitive election materials to the states, with the election now only two days away.