‘Close shop and go home’ –APC blasts PDP over inability to pay staff

 

The ruling All Progressives Party (APC) has taken a shot at the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for inability to pay entitlements of its national secretariat staff.

APC, in a reaction via its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, expressed shock that the opposition party can’t pay its staff despite “billions of Naira generated from the sales of nomination forms during the 2019 general elections and the recent in Edo and Ondo governorship elections.”

APC alleged that the PDP’s inability to do the needful is because most of their leaders no longer have easy access to public funds to loot.

The APC then advised that the PDP has nothing to do with governance since it’s unable to pay entitlements of its staff.

Read the full statement below:

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is shocked that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) can no longer pay entitlements of it’s National Secretariat staff as at when due despite billions of Naira generated from the sales of nomination forms during the 2019 general elections and the recent in Edo and Ondo governorship elections.

If a political party is not capable of running it’s National Secretariat successfully, such a party has nothing to do with governance. Nigerians should thank their stars that the PDP is no longer in power at centre in times like this.

Our current intervention is in respect of some Nigerians working at the National Secretariat of the PDP but got sacked recently and illegally by the party. The number of staff sacked amounts to 50%.

The sacked staff have already dragged the PDP to the National Industrial Court in the suit no. NIC/ABJ/260/2020.

It will amount to wickedness and lack of empathy for the dying PDP to continue to deny its staff what legally belongs to them, hence PDP should rather close shop, bearing in mind the popular saying that “the labourers deserve their wages.”

It is more shocking that the PDP national secretariat could also resort to threats against its own staff who had diligently worked for the party, get sacked illegally and also deny them what is due to them. Where is the empathy, PDP?

We are reliably informed that for three years since the PDP lost power at the centre, staff of it’s National Secretariat have also not been paid their Housing Allowances, leading to over 50% of them entrapped in litigations with their various landlords, over 20% have their properties thrown out of their living apartments following which some of them resorted to sleeping in the Churches and or squatting with friends and relatives. Some have even sent their family members back to their villages.

Although the above ugly experience is a culture in the opposition PDP, it is made worse since most of their leaders no longer have easy access to public funds to loot.

As a responsible governing party, we can only appeal to the leaders in the PDP to show compassion for once because these staffers are Nigerians irrespective of where they are working for now, their entitlements should be paid, including those that have been illegally sacked.

We also appeal to the Court of law to do justice to the case as the last hope of a common man.

Signed:
Yekini Nabena
Deputy National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)