Sokonte Davies excused himself from an ongoing meeting which was holding at the Rivers State APC Party Secretariat.
The time was about ten minutes to 12 in the morning.
The Ag. Chairman was soon in his office where a computer waited patiently on his table. Soon he would be virtually linked to the NEC meeting in Abuja.
Victor Giadom, Ag. National Chairman of the APC had summoned a meeting of NEC and President Muhammadu Buhari had kept his promise to attend.
It was the first NEC meeting attended by the Kalabari-born politician who had replaced Hon. Igo Aguma as the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee comprised of 38 statutory members.
Aguma had been toppled by 28 out of 38 members for allegedly acting as a sole administrator.
His hunt for a restraining order to overturn a majority decision based on the provisions of the APC party Constitution had apparently hit the brick wall.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria had issued a directive restraining judges across the country from issuing frivolous exparte motions.
Somehow, the participation of the Rivers Ag. Chairman in Thursday’s NEC meeting implied that his position had obviously received the approval of the decision making organ of the ruling party.
In Rivers State, his invitation to take part in the NEC meeting was seen as a clear signal that the action taken to replace Hon. Aguma by a majority of statutory members known to the party constitution had been ratified by the National Secretariat.
Among members of the party who were gathered at the Party Secretariat Thursday, there were expressions of joy.
Shortly after the meeting, Hon. Sokonte Davies congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari for restoring sanity to the ranks and file of the APC.
The Chairman said in his reaction to the outcome of the NEC meeting that the President had done well in lowering tension within the party.
“We participated virtually in the NEC meeting”, Dr Davies confirmed in a statement released to the media by Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke.
“We are satisfied with the actions taken to restore order, decorum and discipline within the party.
‘We believe that it was right for the President to offer constructive leadership when it was absolutely required. The decision taken to withdraw all cases from the courts is for us the best thing that has happened.”
Hon. Davies paid tribute to Chief Victor Giadom for playing a mature role in bringing the internal conflicts within the APC to an end.
“We are essentially happy that Chief Giadom in his capacity as the Ag. National Chairman dissolved the National Working Committee, NWC, which paved the way for the establishment of a Caretaker Committee headed by Governor Buni of Yobe State.
Giadom has proved to be an agent of change and a man of integrity who would not be forgotten.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman Thursday played host to the CMD of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Professor Henry Ogbomah.
Ogbomah said he was at the APC Secretariat to identify with the leadership of the Caretaker Committee.
He said that as a result of the exemplary leadership being offered by the committee, members of the APC in Rivers State are in very high spirits.
Hon Sokonte Davies thanked the CMD for his visit and assured him that the Caretaker Committee would remain focused on its assignment.