Obono-Obla counsels APC members on dispute resolution, urges them to embrace Akande committee

The suspended Chairman of the Special Presidential Panel on Recovery of Public Properties, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla has appealed to members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on ways to channel their grievances.

He called on members to take advantage of the Chief Bisi Akande led reconciliation committee put in place by the party to seek redress for their grievances.

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Obono-Obla, who insisted that disagreements are a necessary part of any political party, frowned at the rate at which members of the party approach the courts for adjudication in matters which are purely political.

The presidential aide, who hails from Cross River State, stated this in a statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen on Thursday, adding that he had already forwarded his memorandum to the Akande committee on his grievances with the Cross River State chapter of the party, which he said borders on the appointment of ‘half baked and opportunistic’ people into the state government.

The statement reads: “I have repeatedly expressed the opinion that the tendency of APC members to always rush to file lawsuits in the Court whenever they disagree with one other or aggrieved over a decision taken by the party hierarchy is wrong. These spates of litigations are disruptive of good party administration. It smacks of indiscipline and portrays the party as disorderly and in disarray.

“Disagreements arising from diverse tendencies or varied opinions is bound to happen in any organisation. It is a natural course of event expected in any political party or community. However, when such disagreements occur, the political party should be the first port of call for any aggrieved member to settle such disagreement amicably.

 “It should not be the Court of Law. Ordinary Courts should not assume jurisdiction to settle political disputes. This is because the Court of Law is not the ideal place for the settlement of political disputes. This is because political disputes are political disputes, not legal disputes.

“When the political dispute is legally settled they are festering sore. Court decisions or judgments are one-sided; it is the winner takes all. But political settlements are ideal to settle political disputes.

“This is why when we were writing the APC Constitution during the Merger Talk in 2013, we inserted Article 21 (D) (iv) of the APC Constitution, 2013 (as amended) barring any Member of the Party from filing an action in court without first exploring and exhausting the avenues for redress provided in the Constitution

“Accordingly, Article 21 (D) (iv) of the Constitution stipulates that any member who rushes to court without availing himself or herself of this conflict resolution mechanism provided in the Constitution shall be automatically expelled from the Party.

“A Political Party is a voluntary association. So when you join a Political Party and subscribe to its membership, you have surrendered or subsume your rights to the Party and it is, therefore, required that you will subject yourself to the dictates of such a party including accepting majority decisions handed down by the Party (no matter how unpalatable).

“This is precisely what Chief Bisi Akande, Chairman of APC National Reconciliation Committee is talking about in his statement. Members should avail themselves the opportunity provided by the Committee to go there and table their grievances. Members are encouraged to submit a memorandum on how disputes at the Ward, Local Government Area, State and National should be settled. I have accordingly submitted a memorandum on the crisis that has torn apart the Cross River State chapter of the party, since 2015,” he said.