The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, said so long as members of the All Progressives Congress felt that there was no justice in the running of its affairs, the crisis rocking the party would only worsen.
The Speaker also stated that trying to silence the voices of dissent and opposition would also fail.
Dogara spoke at the National Assembly on Thursday, just as the APC National Chairman, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, and other members of the National Working Committee held a meeting with the party’s caucus at the House.
He added that the APC was like a family where people must disagree, but what was important was the methodology adopted in resolving disputes.
The Speaker said, “In every family, whether it is a nuclear, extended or an organisation, there is bound to be a problem and that is because we humans that are running those institutions are not perfect ourselves. So, we don’t expect perfection from any quarters.
“Our only expectation is the issue of justice and justice is indivisible. What is justice to the executive should be justice to the legislature and it should be justice to the judiciary.
“What is justice to the President and the Vice-President should be justice to the governor and it has to be justice for the members of the National Assembly, because you can’t divide justice. Once you begin to divide justice you don’t have justice.”
However, speaking shortly after the closed-door meeting ended, Oshiomhole told reporters that the “real stakeholders” of the APC were holding fruitful discussions on how to strengthen it.
But he quickly dismissed the newly-formed Reformed APC faction calling both the National Chairman of the R-APC, Mr. Buba Galadima, and the members of his group, ‘bread and butter’ politicians.
Oshiomhole said, “There is no break-up; if one Galadima of no particular political address says he is not happy, that is fine! He has a right not to be happy.
“I won’t miss my sleep over whatever he chooses to call himself (R-APC). We know those who are in politics for bread and butter. For us, we are engaging the real stakeholders.
“We are engaging those in the arms of government, the Executive and the National Assembly, where we have very influential leaders.
“But if you have people who are being sponsored by those who thought that our convention would be a failure and they were expecting an implosion, they were shocked how things worked out.
“If after two weeks of wriggling in pains, that they are disappointed, you find mercenaries who are willing to be hired for a purpose, it is their right to be so hired.
“They do not cause any distractions within the core APC leadership.”
Source: Punch
