Sacked directors at the national headquarters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have accused the party’s chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, of using “secret accounts” without the approval of the National Working Committee (NWC), according to Sahara Reporters.
The sacked directors said in a statement that the chairman had disregarded the cashless policy and taken N3 billion from hidden accounts instead.
READ ALSO: APC national chairman, Adamu, suspends party directors
Recall that Adamu in April 2022 ordered all departmental directors at the party’s headquarters in Abuja to proceed on indefinite suspension over allegations of corruption.
The affected directors include: Elder Anietie Offong (Director, Welfare); Bartholomew I. Ugwoke (Research); Abubakar Suleiman (Finance); Dr Suleiman Abubakar (Administration); Salisu Na’inna Dambatta (Publicity); and Dare Oketade, Head, Legal.
It was reported that Adamu had since replaced the directors.
As soon as he took over office on April 1, Adamu established a transition committee under the leadership of Ali Saad Birnin Kudu, a former governor of Jigawa State, to look into the handover notes of the previous caretaker/extraordinary convention planning committee headed by Mai Mala Buni, the governor of Yobe State.
According to the claims, the committee’s recommendations led to the dismissal of the directors.
It was learned that all attempts to return to their positions, including a letter dated July 20, 2022 asking the National Executive Committee (NEC) for assistance, were unsuccessful.
Daily Trust reports that the compulsory one-month leave given to them started on April 22, and ended on May 22, 2022, but they were not allowed to return to their offices.
At a press conference last week, Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State, accused the directors of corruption and claimed that the governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee had left a debt to his government of N7.5 billion.
However, the transition committee did not propose their dismissal, making them still valid party employees who are entitled to their benefits, according to the statement signed by the five sacked directors and the head of legal.
They asserted that Adamu’s allegation that he inherited a N7.5 billion debt from the Buni committee was untrue and that he instead opened secret accounts without the NWC’s consent, from which he withdrew N3 billion in violation of the cashless policy.
The statement reads: “Allegation of corruption at the secretariat. This allegation is groundless and unproven. The withdrawal of N3,000,000,000 (three billion naira) in cash from some secret accounts that were reportedly opened without a resolution of the current NWC, or approval by the National Executive Committee (NEC), did not happen when the directors and head of legal were in office.
“An explanation of this anomaly and breach of the cashless policy by the national chairman is desirable lest unwholesome allegations fly around.
“We are compelled to respond to some of his claims, which are totally unfounded, to keep the records in the public domain accurate, thus making same a reliable source of reference in the future.
“We can simply say that there were no ghost workers in the APC secretariat during the tenure of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee. To substantiate the claim of the existence of ghost workers, their names and total number should be published by the chairman (Adamu).
“There is no substance in the claim that there were arrears of staff salaries when the current leadership of the party assumed office.”
“This is because staff salaries were paid up to the end of March 2022 to ensure that the new leadership of the party comes in on a clean slate regarding staff salaries. The staff can testify to this fact. It is therefore incorrect to say that the Abdullahi Adamu team inherited any salary arrears.”
Sahara Reporters
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