APC crisis: Be guided by democratic rules, Atiku advises Oyegun, others
Former Vice President and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has declared that the national leadership of the governing party must be guided by the rules of internal democracy and respect for democratic consensus, warning that “you cannot break your own rules without creating problems.”
Atiku made the declaration against the backdrop of the crisis trailing the conduct of the APC gubernatorial primary in Ondo state.
The former Vice President, in a statement by his media office on Wednesday, maintained that the party is supposed to be an impartial entity in the arbitration of crisis amongst its members in any given election.
He noted that since the APC found veritable reasons to review the outcome of the gubernatorial primary election it conducted in Ondo State, and was able to establish valid grounds to cancel that election and call for a fresh one, the decision to deviate from its own resolution is a negation of due process and an unfashionable hollow in democratic best practices.
His words: “It was wrong for the APC to have set aside a resolution it had reached aimed at resolving the crisis in our party in Ondo State. It is a recipe for acrimony and division.”
The former vice president thus charged the APC on the promotion of rule of law and due process in the conduct of its affairs, noting that they are germane to the unity and stability of the party.
The Turaki Adamawa stated that pretending that a problem doesn’t exist won’t make that problem go away.
He thus advised the leadership of the party to do a soul searching and address why this problem arose and escalated.
According to Atiku, “the party leadership should always be guided by respect for the rules, fairness, equity, neutrality and respect for democratic consensus”.
The former Vice President, however, urged aggrieved members of the APC in the Ondo election to exercise restraint in seeking redress to the crisis.
He equally urged the leadership of the party to retrace its steps and do the needful to restore confidence among the conflicting parties in the state for the overall benefit of the ruling party.
