From: Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has directed all administrative staff of the party to resume work immediately at the Wadata Plaza national secretariat of the party, or risk sanctions.
He said contrary to their rules of engagement, some of the staff have been partisan in the leadership crisis rocking the opposition party.
The National Chairman gave the warning, on Tuesday, in a statement issued by the PDP acting National Publicity Secretary, Bernard Mikko.
This is coming 24 hours after the PDP staff, who accused Sheriff of running the party with handpicked national officials, said they would not resume work at the Wadata Plaza until there is peace in the party.
The statement noted that series of communiqués issued by the staff under the aegis of the PDP Welfare Association indicates that some of them are enmeshed in the power tussle in the party.
According to the statement:”Members of the PDP Welfare Association and indeed all committed staff of the National Secretariat who have not resumed duties should immediately get back to work as they are neither on trial nor involved in any crisis or litigation necessitating any form of political or legal solution to resolve.
“However, recent events and pronouncements of some members of staff under the guise of PDP Welfare Association, have shown that they have breached their terms of employment and conditions of service and now engaging in the selection, determination and emergence of their bosses who are political leaders at the Wadata Plaza. This is gross abuse of office and totally unacceptable.
“The belligerent stand and the series of communiques issued by some members of staff indicates clearly that they have positioned themselves in the center of political conflagrations involving their bosses against their terms and conditions of employment.
“The dissident group which they pretend to profess their loyalty had been proscribed by law and legally dead. Any attempt to resurrect a dead horse will only amount to superstition and largely futile. Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and the entire NWC is committed to bringing the party to fame to the realization of the dreams of the founding fathers and should be supported to do so.”
The statement added that contrary to the position of the staff on the composition of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), all the current national officials of the party emerged through due process “in line with Article 47(6) of the PDP Constitution 2012 (As Amended)” after some of the former NWC members resigned last year.