BEVERLY HILL, August 08, (THEWILL) – Staffers at the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP national secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Abuja have lamented what they termed as the sudden change of attitude towards them, particularly as regard their welfare by the leadership of the party after the Supreme Court judgment which in July 2017 upheld Senator Ahmed Makarfi as the party’s national chairman.
Former Borno state governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff had been the national chairman of the PDP until he was sacked by the apex court ruling.
The staff, who aired their grievances on Tuesday at the Wadata Plaza during an event staged to celebrate the 61st birthday of Makarfi, complained over the nonpayment of June and July salaries and called on party leaders to come to their rescue.
Leadership reports the party workers as decrying the total lacklustre attitude of the National Caretaker Committee, NCC, towards them. Pleading anonymity, a member of the staff management cadre disclosed that during the leadership crisis, the Caretaker Committee used to take staff welfare as their major priority and complied with payments.
He, however, blamed the long delay in the payment of salaries and other emoluments on some NCC members who are bent on cutting down their salaries.
“We are not happy at all, he said, “Look at the loyalty displayed by staff of this party during the 14 months period of the leadership crisis. We stood with the NCC and the Organs of the Party, despite the inducements, threats and blackmail by Senator Sheriff. Is this how they want to reward us for remaining loyal?”
Another member of the staff welfare forum was reported as saying, “The situation is becoming worse every day, our staff are hungry; many of them have no houses to live in due to nonpayment of rent. This is not fair at all and we are calling on all party stakeholders to please come to our rescue”.
Meanwhile, Makarfi has stated that the party will ensure the return of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, former vice president Atiku Abubakar, Senate President Bukola Saraki and all those who held top political offices under the party’s platform.
Speaking while inaugurating three party committees namely convention, disciplinary and reconciliation, he charged the reconciliation committee to extend their assignment to the founding members of the party, noting that it should not be restricted to pre-2015 alone.
Former foreign affairs minister, Chief Tom Ikimi, is the head of the disciplinary committee, while governors of Rivers and Gombe States, Nyesom Wike and Ibrahim Dankwambo, will serve as co-chairmen of the reconciliation committee, with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State heading the convention committee.
The party chairman told the committee that they should reach out to the founding fathers of the party under the aegis of Group of 34 members and ensure that they bring back members who held high positions.
He also added that the committee should reach out to “former high ranking government officials who came into office under the aegis of the PDP.
“This includes President, vice, governors and former senate president, speaker of House of Representatives and all other former top ranking members in the party. Everybody that was in PDP at one time or the other should be reconciled with. It is not limited to pre-2015”, Makarfi added.
In his remarks, Ikimi, who had chaired APC merger committee while in the party, disclosed that the former PDP members who defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, were on their way back, noting that APC’s 2015 victory was secured by PDP defectors.
He said, “APC is now dying and is almost dead. I am aware that they were able to win in 2015 because of members of PDP who defected there.
“I have it on good authority that key members who left PDP and joined APC are now returning to the party. I will like us to receive then with open hands and we will rebuild the party”.
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