Resort to litigations hurting Rivers APC, says Peterside

All Progressives Congress (APC) 2015 governorship candidate in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has cautioned that resort to litigation at every little disagreement would not help the state chapter of the party.

Dakuku, who is Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), said recent events after the APC was disqualified from contesting the 2019 Rivers general elections and the recent court cases have merely created another wave of legal tussles.

The Guardian recalled that Justice A.U. Kingsley-Chuku of Rivers State High Court had on Friday restrained the APC from conducting fresh congresses in the state following a suit with reference number: PHC/4355/2019 filed by a former member of the House of Representatives, Igochukwu Aguma, against Chairman, APC Caretaker Committee, Isaac Ogbobula, and it’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

He explained that the party’s national secretariat has set up a reconciliation committee headed by Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, to review the issues in various states of the federation.

Acknowledging that while it was the right of every Nigerian including members of the party to seek redress in the courts, he however, felt that the internal conflict resolution mechanism within the party’s structure should have been activated and exhausted before exploring the option of litigation.

“The resort to court at every little disagreement does little to help the party. It is for this reason that the party has a structure to resolve differences and bring about amicable settlement. There is no perfect party anywhere in the world.

“Members have reasons to disagree and reflect different tendencies, but the party has a mechanism to resolve such seeming intractable dissents. They do not resort to the courts at the snap of a finger.

“The national secretariat of our great party has set up a reconciliation committee headed by Lawan. We can only defer to the committee and approach them without differences,” he said.

The NIMASA boss stated that contrary to insinuations, leader of the party in Rivers State and Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, was open and ready to bring everybody under one roof, but would wait for directives from the national secretariat.