Atiku to Oyegun: You can’t break your own rules without creating problems

Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, has faulted the decision of John Oyegun, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to set aside a resolution cancelling the Ondo state governorship primary election.

Abubakar charged the APC to promote the rule of law and due process in the conduct of its affairs because they are germane to the unity and stability of the party. 

He gave the when speaking about the “festering crisis trailing the conduct of the APC governorship primary election in Ondo state.”

He said it was imperative for the national leadership of the party to live by the rules of internal democracy and respect for democratic consensus, warning that “you cannot break your own rules without creating problems”.

In a statement on Wednesday, Abubakar said that APC was supposed to be an impartial entity in the arbitration of crisis amongst its members in any given election.

He stated that since the APC found reasons to review the outcome of the governorship 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 was a negation of due process and a hollow in democratic best practice.

“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,” he said.

According to Abubakar, pretending that a problem doesn’t exist won’t make that problem go away, hence he advised the leadership of the party to do a soul searching and address why this problem arose and escalated.

He said that the party leadership should always be guided by respect for the rules, fairness, equity, neutrality and respect for democratic consensus.

He aggrieved members of the APC in the Ondo election to exercise restraint in seeking redress to the crisis, and he called on 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.