Atiku to Odigie-Oyegun: You create problems when you break your own rules

Former Vice President and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has charged the party on the promotion of rule of law and due process in the conduct of its affairs, noting that they are germane to its unity and stability.
The former Vice President gave the counsel against the background of the festering crisis trailing the conduct of the APC gubernatorial primary in Ondo State.
The Turaki Adamawa said it is imperative for the national leadership of the party to live by the rules of internal democracy and respect for democratic consensus, warning: “You cannot break your own rules without creating problems.”
Abubakar said in a statement by his Media Office on Wednesday that the party ought to be an impartial entity in the arbitration of crisis amongst its members in any given election.
He contended 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.
Abubakar said in the statement: “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 also noted that pretending a problem doesn’t exist won’t make that problem go away and, therefore, advised the leadership of the party to do a soul searching and address why this problem arose and escalated.
According to Abubakar, the party’s 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 State election to exercise restraint in seeking redress to the crisis, while also urging 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.
The Eagle Online recalls that crisis is brewing in the party over the outcome of the primary, especially between the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and a National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Odigie-Oyegun was accused of overreaching himself by overruling the majority of the members of the National Working Committee who voted for a repeat primary based on the recommendation of the Appeal Committee that examined petitions that arose from the exercise.
While six members of the NWC supported a repeat of the primary, five voted for the retention of the outcome.
However, Odigie-Oyegun overruled the majority and sent the name of the winner and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Rotimi Akeredolu, to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Tinubu became livid over this as his favoured candidate, Olusegun Abraham, was expected to have been given another chance to clinch the ticket of the party.
A statement by the Tinubu Media Office asked Odigie-Oyegun to resign.