By Daniel Kanu
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has frowned on the actions of some party members who have resorted to litigation as a way of addressing their perceived grievances and disputation without exhausting the party’s dispute resolution mechanism.
The NWC warned such members against incessant litigation and advised them to take advantage of the party’s internal mechanisms to settle disputes.
“This growing trend is viewed by the party as a manifest indiscipline. The actions, it should be noted, is considered as anti-party as it goes against our party’s constitution,” the APC national publicity secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, said on Monday.
Issa-Onilu said in a statement that the litigations were uncalled for.
“For emphasis, according to Article 20, Subsection 10 of our Party’s Constitution, offences against the Party include the following: “Filing an action in a Court of Law against the Party or any of its Officers on any matters relating to the discharge of the duties of the Party without first exhausting all avenues for redress provided for in this Constitution.”
“The Party intends to activate constitutional provisions to penalise such members as their action is capable of undermining the party and hurt the Party’s interest.
“We hereby strongly advise such members to withdraw all court cases, while approaching the appropriate party organs with a view to resolving any outstanding disputes. In addition to this, aggrieved members are urged to take full advantage of the reconciliation committees the party has just put in place.
“APC members should understand that as a progressive party that operates on the principle of change, it is not a matter of choice to keep to the rules.
“We therefore advise such members to take this warning very seriously as failure to comply with the party’s dispute resolution procedures would be met with the stipulated disciplinary actions.”