Musa Bakari, initiator and convener of the Atiku Haske Organisation, has dismissed Abba Atiku Abubakar from the group for defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
On Thursday, Abba, a son of Atiku Abubakar, former vice president and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 20219 and 2023 elections, defected to the APC.
After his defection, Abba directed coordinators and members of his political structure to join the party and mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda.
He also announced the renaming of his political structure as the Haske Bola Tinubu Organisation.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Bakari said Abba had no locus to determine the political direction of the Atiku Haske Organisation.
Bakari said Abba was neither the founder nor originator of the organisation and therefore lacked the authority to issue directives on which party or candidate it should support.
“We founded the Atiku Haske Organisation and we merely invited Abba to join the group,” the statement reads.
“Abba has neither contributed a naira to the activities of the group nor possess the certificate of registration of the group; we are therefore under no obligation or duty to adhere to any directive by him.
“On the contrary, he is the one who is subject to our regulations and evidently he has fallen short of expectations by our standards, and expressly dismissed as a member.
“The Atiku Haske Organisation is not a party to, neither is it interested in joining Abba to defect to any other political party apart from the African Democratic Congress.”
Bakari said the group was formerly part of the PDP and had resolved to move en masse to the ADC.
“What Abba has done is contrary to our resolution, values and principles and he is hereby expelled from the organisation,” the group said.
Bakari said the organisation remained committed to enthroning a government that would deliver good governance and ease the suffering of Nigerians.
“We are even more resolute in our conviction that His Excellency Atiku Abubakar is the best candidate to drive home our objective,” the group added.
“Therefore, the Atiku Haske Organisation is solidly behind Atiku and the directive by Abba is a nullity and is dead on arrival.
“We challenge Abba to create his own group if, indeed, he has the capacity to do so, and we urge him to desist from identifying himself as a member of our organisation.”
Meanwhile, Atiku said the decision of his son to join the ruling APC was entirely personal.
Atiku added that as a democrat, he does not coerce his children on matters of conscience.
“In a democracy, such choices are neither unusual nor alarming, even when family and politics intersect,” he said.
