By Henry Umoru

ABUJA  — THE lingering   crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,  yesterday, took another twist as men of the Department of State Services, DSS, stormed the Wadata Plaza, National Secretariat of the party.

PDP National secretariat , Abuja

There has been a sharp disagreement between the national leadership and staff over plans to reduce the staff strength, their salaries and allowances by 50 per cent.

Men of DSS, who were dressed in black, arrived the secretariat at about 9 am apparently sensing that the aggrieved workers who have been at loggerheads with the National Working Committee, NWC, may cause chaos that could lead to breakdown of law and order.

They went upstairs where they stayed for over 30 minutes during the meeting between the directors and leaders of the aggrieved workers. They also went round the premises and finally went to the National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting hall before they finally left.

Mgt meets with

warring workers

Meanwhile, as part of moves to end the crisis, the PDP management consisting of the directors, deputy directors and assistant directors entered into a closed-door marathon meeting with the warring staff, which the National Director of Administration, Alhaji Gurama Bawa, presided. The management team has 13 members.

According to Vanguard’s checks, there are 106 establishment staff, 149 non-establishment staff and 107 security staff. The staff, as gathered, are asking for their severance allowances.

Vanguard also gathered that directors receive between N450,000 and N350,000 monthly and supervisors go home with N203,000 monthly. Those in the intermediary level and mostly secretaries with first degree and HND go home with between N180,000 and N160,000 monthly depending on the step. Junior workers, who are mostly administrative and messengers, go home with  N120,000, N100,000 or N80,000 while the least group who are cleaners go home monthly with N45,000.

At the meeting, Bawa and other directors, a source told Vanguard, pleaded with the aggrieved staff for a temporary ceasefire to enable the management hold a meeting with the NWC on how to resolve the issue to avoid further damage to the polity which is now in the opposition after operating as the ruling party for 16 years.

Soon after the meeting between the management and the executive of the PDP workers, who are operating under the aegis of Staff Welfare Association, an enlarged meeting was called to brief the entire staff on the outcome.

The decisions,

grievances

The NWC’s directive to the workers, some of whom have worked for the party for 16 years, to go back to their respective state chapter chairmen to get clearance letters was one of the major grievances of the workers. They argued that none of the incumbent state chairmen of the party was in that position when they were engaged by the national secretariat of the party several years ago.

The NWC had concluded to reduce its staff strength by 50 per cent and on Wednesday, the leadership said it would reduce the salaries and allowances of its staff by 50 per cent. The allowances of members of the NWC would also be slashed by 50 per cent.

In a letter signed by PDP National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo, to all directors and administrative staff of  the party, the leadership of the party while asking its workers to return to their respective states and prove their membership, said: “Furthermore, Establishment staff who would remain are required to obtain individual letter of revalidation from their state party chapter within one month of this circular to show their suitability for service at the National Secretariat.”

The crisis took another dimension on Friday when the aggrieved staff of the party openly called for the sack of the NWC members.

Fears were also being entertained by the workers that the NWC members may insist that state chairmen should not issue clearance letters to any staff they have scores to settle with.

BoT, NEC back

workers

There were strong indications that some members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party may have thrown their weights behind the aggrieved staff.

This came as some former national chairmen of the party and BoT members met select workers and expressed support for the workers and reportedly pointed out that the NWC should have resigned when the former Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, left.

A source at the party secretariat told Vanguard: “The feeling among BoT and NEC members is that since members of the NWC led the party to such an unprecedented defeat in 16 years, they should have done the honourable thing and resigned to allow others to come in and rebuild the party from the ruins of the last election.”

The source noted that the NWC members lack the moral right to implement the report of the Ike Ekweremadu committee that was set up to evaluate the circumstance that led to the defeat of the party during the elections, stressing: “What if the Ekweremadu committee indicted the NWC? They cannot be judge in their own case.”

At the secretariat yesterday, staff were seen outside their offices and the usual bubbling at the party headquarters was lacking. Staff were seen discussing in groups.

Temporary ceasefire

One of the leaders of the staff told Vanguard that there was the need for what he described as a temporary ceasefire following the intervention of top management, adding: “We have decided to have a temporary ceasefire because of the intervention of our directors. They held a meeting with us, they pleaded with us to allow things work out as they were going to have a meeting with members of the NWC and get back to us later.

“We had a very fruitful meeting with the management where we raised our grievances, our bitterness with the NWC, especially the area of planning to sack us, to ask us to go and get letters from our state chairmen. They only want to use that to get us out and replace us with their own persons and that we resist.”

However, it was gathered that the BoT will likely give approval for the revalidation of the workers to weed out those that are suspected to be moles in the party.