The Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), North West Zone, Inuwa Abdulkadir, on Friday cautioned members of the party to watch their utterances and not hide under the freedom of speech to bring the party to disrepute.
Abdulkadir, who was reacting to a statement credited to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that he has been sidelined by both President Muhammadu Buhari and the party, described the claim as “unguided statement” which should not be coming from a man of his repute.
The APC chieftain, who spoke with journalists at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, also said the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, was practically blackmailing the President with her statement.
He said: “Atiku Abubakar is a very important member of this party. He is one of the leaders of this party and I have no doubt about his contribution to building this party. He has also added value by his personality during the last election.
“People of such standing and reckoning in this country, particularly being a former vice president of this great nation, he has attained the position of a statesman and what we expect from him is nothing less than that. By virtue of his former office and his age, he is qualified to be a statesman.
“But when you reach that status and age there are certain things you have to come to terms with, most important of which is to exhibit a high sense of decorum in your conduct. What I mean is that you have to guard what you say, how you say it and when you say it because what is expected of you as a statesman is nothing but factual.
“Secondly, majority of the people look up to you to provide leadership in the sense that from what you say people can learn a lot.
“Of recent Atiku has made some statements to the effect that or created an impression of the failure of the party and President Muhammadu Buhari-led government. At that level, good party members, especially of his status should not be seen to be making such public statements even if those criticisms are factual, whereas in this case some of these statements were misleading and incorrect.”
