Politics

Adamu Uncovers ‘Ghost Workers’ In APC Secretariat

Published

3 years ago

October 21, 2022

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has unearthed a can of worms plaguing the party’s secretariat, saying he inherited baggage of corruption, salary arrears and ghost workers.

Adamu made the revelation during a media parley with journalists at the party headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.

The clarification is coming on the heels of report that the former Nasarawa State governor had replaced some suspended departmental directors of the secretariat with his relatives and cronies.

The six affected directors namely Elder Anietie Offong (Welfare); Bartholomew Ugwoke (Research); Abubakar Suleiman (Finance); Dr Suleiman Abubakar (Administration); Salisu Dambatta (Publicity) and Dare Oketade, Legal Head, were allegedly accused of mismanaging N7.7bn.

Adamu had on April 22 ordered the directors to proceed on a “compulsory annual leave.”

Although the former Nasarawa governor promised to run a staff audit, the result of the exercise which showed an over-bloated workforce was not implemented.

Instead, the party chairman consequently set up an investigative panel headed by an ex-Governor of Jigawa State, Ali Kudu, to study the handing-over notes of the defunct Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee.

It was the fallout of the committee’s recommendations that compelled Adamu to place the departmental directors and head of legal services on an indefinite suspension.

In the last one week, the media has been awash with report of new helmsmen replacing four of the six axed directors.

Defending his action in a media parley with newsmen on Thursday, Adamu disclosed that the move was necessitated by the need to sanitise the system.

This was as he denied allegation that the new replacement were his cronies.

He said, “That the report is false. The fact of the matter is, go through the secretariat, there is not one person since we came in here that is my blood relation. Not one, whether primary or part of my extended family.

“It is a fallacy (that I have my people working here). In fact, when we came here, it was to reorganise and reconstitute the party. You don’t see the party in a state of mess and look the other way just because you want to be decent and not offend anybody.”

While claiming that he met a cesspool of corruption, tardy staff and a register containing over 200 names including ghost workers, the APC chairman swore that it was not in his DNA to overlook such anomalies.

He also swore that his action was done out of motivation to right the wrongs and not as prejudice as being speculated in the media.

“We came and found the party where people are fixing all manners of things. We had a bill of N7.5bn to settle on legal matters alone. We came to find that here everybody was like me, on his own. No control, no system and no due process. Everybody doing what he wanted to do. It is just because you don’t want to be accused of anything that you will allow those kinds of people.

“My DNA has a terrible allergy to that. I am sure most, if not all, of my members in the NWC share in this. So we found the necessity to reorganise the centre and only God knows the extent of appreciation we probably have won. Of course, every situation of change has a victim of its own and ours is not an exception. And we didn’t do anything with bias or prejudice. The main thing is the interest of the party.

“I know we will be abused and falsely accused but we are humans. I am not saying we don’t make mistakes. But the fact of the matter is that there is nothing we have done deliberately just to promote our own interests. We don’t do it. There is a lot of falsehood going on.

Ghost workers in APC headquarters
“Recently, we tried to introduce table payment. If you are a member of this chapel, you know we don’t have 200 people working for us here. But if you go through the payroll, we are over 200 people. Who are they? How did they come up on their bill? What are they doing for us? Where are their letters of appointment? What condition of service do they have?

“You don’t, because you are afraid of negative media reviews, ignore this. People went to the market square saying we are arranging salaries but can’t pay. That is very far from the truth. We met and paid some arrears when we came in. I don’t have any qualms about this. We did everything in good faith,” he said.

The PUNCH also reached out to the affected directors to get their reactions.

An unhappy Salisu Dambatta, who was the former Director of Publicity in the APC, told The PUNCH that he doesn’t want to join issues with the party.

According to him, it will not be good for the image of the party, especially at a time when the Presidential Candidate of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has commenced his campaign.

Former Legal Head of the APC, Dare Oketade, also told our reporter that the ex-director of administration was in a better position to relate their plight.

He also believed their predicament was more of a witch-hunt than the flimsy allegation of corruption Adamu was trying to rope them with.

When contacted, the emotional admin director, Abubakar Suleiman, told The PUNCH that the whole drama looked like it was pre-arranged.

Suleiman accused the Adamu-led NWC of failing to narrate their “sin” before plunging them into “compulsory annual leave,” an act that culminated in appointment of their replacements.

“Adamu lied. My brother, nothing went wrong. The secretariat was in good hands. What necessitated his decision was not known to us or anybody. It was an agenda. Nobody was indicted. I am sure you must have heard from others too. Nothing went wrong anywhere.

“As directors, we don’t approve anything. Our job was to implement,” he bemoaned.

Asked where the allegation of N7.7bn was coming from, he dismissed the idea, saying it was non-existent.

He noted, “Nothing like that. Nobody is aware of the N7.7bn you said he talked about. No money was missing. There were also no ghost workers anywhere. Every staff you see at the secretariat there was duly engaged with letters of employment. At the time we left, the staff strength was about 211 workers.

“All these talks of corruption and others must have been an after-thought, I am sure. All the suspension letter told us was that it was based on the recommendation of the committee set up.”

A copy of the letter written to them by the party’s national secretary and made available to our correspondent indicated that they were removed as a result of the recommendations contained in the report of the Transition Committee Adamu appointed.

The director of administration lamented that at the bottom of the letter, “each of us was wished well in his future endeavours.”

Despite writing President Muhammadu Buhari and copying Tinubu, members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, National Executive Committee and party chieftains, no action was taken, according to the director.

A pensive Suleiman, however, concluded that they might consider litigation if all entreaties to reinstate them fail.

This was as he reiterated that Adamu and the NWC lacked the power to recruit or disengage staff without the approval of the National Executive Committee of the Party.

He said, “The power given to them by NEC then was only to organise primaries and national convention. They have acted beyond their remit by sending us on compulsory annual leave which is strange to the APC staff condition of service and breached the APC constitution by saying that they have removed us.

“An Establishment Committee is the only body that can make recommendation to engage or remove staff of the APC secretariat. And even then, it can only become effective when or if the NEC approves. There must be genuine reasons for either recruitment or disengagement.

“Our dismissal has not followed any due process. It is unfair. You just don’t go about tarnishing people’s image. You were about the only journalist that called to verify the truth.

“I have put 22 years of service into this party through the whole transition and merger process from the AD. But what Adamu just did was to bring in his cronies and people to run things at the secretariat.

“If he tells you his people are not working at the secretariat, he lied. Quote me anywhere. He has his people in positions of leadership including those he brought in as aides and personal assistants. We need to call a spade a spade.”
PUNCH

Politics

Edo PDP Knocks Okpebholo Over ₦2.5b Donation To UBTH

Published

1 day ago

August 27, 2025

Editor

Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the approval of ₦2.5 billion to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital by Governor Monday Okpebholo.

The Governor announced the approval on Tuesday when the new Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Idia Ize-Iyamu, paid a courtesy visit to him in Government House, Benin.

Ize-Iyamu had requested the state government’s assistance in constructing a world-class Paediatric Centre worth N2.5 billion which the governor approved.

However, the PDP, in a statement by its Caretaker Committee Publicity Secretary, Chris Nehikhare said the governor should have invested the money on state-owned hospitals instead of a federal institution.

The statement statement partly reads, “This misadventure is not only reckless but a glaring example of the 2027 election fixation and desperate eye-service politics that has defined Okpebholo’s almost one year in office.

“Edo people are being made to suffer while their resources are squandered on federal facilities that are not the primary responsibility of the state.

“We align with the position of the Association of Resident Doctors under Edo State Government Employment, who have openly decried this misplaced priority. Their statement exposes what Edo people already know, our hospitals are collapsing, yet the Governor prefers to chase cheap popularity.”

The PDP said that Stella Obasanjo Hospital, which was rebuilt with state funds, remained locked with less than a tenth in use, wondering why the ₦2.5 billion was not channelled there.

The statement added, “The Edo Specialist Hospital continues to cry for expansion and adequate support but has been ignored by a government obsessed with pleasing political benefactors and seeking headlines.

“The General Hospital in Abudu is no more than a mere patent medicine store, and yet, ‘₦2.5 billion that belongs to Odogwu is being given to Caesar.”

The PDP also noted that Edo doctors, who only recently suspended their strike, still have their legitimate demands unmet.

“Edo people obviously did not elect a Governor to act as a philanthropist to federal institutions. They elected a leader to fix our hospitals, build capacity, and ensure access to healthcare for all. By neglecting this sacred duty, Okpebholo has shown that he is unprepared, unserious, and out of touch with the realities of Edo citizens.

“We in the PDP demand that this decision be reversed and that urgent attention be given to Edo-owned hospitals which directly serve our people. Edo deserves working hospitals, not political monuments built with eyes on the 2027 elections.

“This is not leadership. This is a reckless waste. And Edo people will not forget,” the statement added.

Efforts to get the government’s response proved futile, as a top official, who pleaded anonymity, said that a response will come on Thursday.

Politics

PDP Zones 2027 Presidential Ticket To South

Published

3 days ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

The Peoples Democratic Party’s 102nd National Executive Committee meeting has resolved to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South while retaining the existing National Working Committee zoning formula for the November elective convention.

Addressing journalists after the NEC meeting in Abuja on Monday, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, disclosed that the decision followed the presentation of a report by the Zoning Committee chaired by Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri.

Recall that during the 2023 elections, the PDP threw its presidential ticket open, leading to the emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its candidate.

However, some southern leaders, led by then Rivers State Governor and now FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, opposed him over what they saw as an unfair power-sharing arrangement for the South.

In the end, the PDP candidate lost to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.

After declaring the zoning arrangement, Ologunagba added that the NEC also expressed satisfaction over the level of preparedness of the PDP’s various organs, Chapters and structures for the 2025 Elective National Convention scheduled for Ibadan, the Oyo State Capital on Saturday 15th to Sunday 16th November 2025.

Ologunagba, while reading the 102nd NEC communiqué, said the meeting commended the efforts of PDP governors, Board of Trustees, NWC, National Assembly caucus, and other party organs toward the success of the 2025 National Convention.

The communique read in part, “NEC received and after extensive deliberation approved the report of the National Convention Zoning Committee which recommended that all PDP National Office positions currently in the Northern Region of the country remain in the Northern Region.

“That all PDP National Office positions currently in the Southern Region of the country remain in the Southern Region.

“That having retained the position of the National Chairman in the Northern Region of the country, the Presidential Candidate of the Party for the 2027 General Election is hereby zoned to the Southern Region.

“That the Regions should immediately micro-zone positions within its Region for implementation.

“NEC also received an update from the PDP Constitution Amendment Committee and directed the Committee to circulate the Draft Constitution Amendment to various Organs and Chapters of the Party for further inputs.”

Ologunagba said NEC confirmed Umar Damagum as substantive National Chairman, effective Monday, August 25, 2025, in recognition of his role in stabilising the party, pending the National Convention.

He continued, “NEC condemns the resort by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to State Capture through state-backed intimidation, manipulation, inducement, coercion and violence against Nigerians as witnessed in APC’s muzzling of the recent bye-elections in parts of the country.

“NEC particularly expressed dismay and condemned the militarisation of the recent bye-elections especially in Kaduna and Taraba States as well as Zamfara State where excessive security agencies were deployed in the conduct of the run-off election in only five Polling Units in Kaura Namoda South State Constituency.

“NEC declares that this action by the APC is a confirmation of the APC’s desire to turn our country into a totalitarian One-Party State which is a clear and present danger to democracy and the corporate existence of our country.

“NEC reassures Nigerians of PDP’s commitment to Democracy and the defense of the interest and well-being of all citizens as we work hard to further reposition our Party to regain power in 2027.”

Politics

Why APC Candidates Contested 2023 LG Election Despite Intimidation — State Chairman

Published

3 days ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

The Edo State Chairman
of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Jarret Tenebe, has explained why his party did not boycott the 2023 local government council election in the state despite intimidation and obvious efforts to compromise the exercise by the then government.

He said the party allowed its candidates to contest the local government election in order to gather momentum for the governorship election which was some months away as at then.

Tenebe spoke on Monday when he received the chairmanship candidates of the APC in that election at the party secretariat, Benin City, where he assured them that their labour would not be in vain.

He commended them for their determination, confidence and belief in the party despite being in an opposition at that time contesting against an incumbent government led by former governor Godwin Obaseki.

Tenebe said “People never believed that APC should contest that election but I believed that we should enable us to gather momentum for the governorship election which was coming then.

“Consultations began with party leaders and we all later agreed that the party should contest that election which was keenly contested.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under Godwin Obaseki wrote the results of that election.

“You people did your best in the election and campaigned vigorously for senator Monday Okpebholo to win the governorship election in the state.

“You work hard to ensure APC win the governorship election as that is the only way your stolen mandate will be returned.

“The party will stand with you and not allow your labour to be in vain. The party will not allow you to work alone as the party will work with you. The governor is very much aware of your support”.

Speaking on behalf of the candidates, Enahoro Aikpokpo said they contested at a very difficult time to keep the party alive despite the intimidation and challenges they faced.

He called on the party to consider them and give them the right of first refusal as they are interested in the forthcoming local government election in the states.