As the All Progressives Congress officially closed work yesterday for festivities holiday, employees in the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, bemoaned the no payment of salaries which they said deprive them of celebrating this year’s Christmas.
Some of the staff who spoke on development on condition of anonymity stated that they were going home for the Christmas holiday without a grain of rice or any other christmas package from the national leadership of the party. They said the situation was not the kind of change that they expected from the party.
According to them, when the Peoples Democratic Party was in power, their staff enjoyed the dividends of being in government especially during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
They condemned the situation where they had to go home without their salaries, arguing that there was no justification for the party to with hold their salaries and keep their families in hunger at this period.
They accused the leadership of the party of neglecting the welfare of their welfare of employees, stating that they enjoyed better when APC was an opposition party than now.
Said one of the staff: “Why should we go home without our salaries? What do we tell our people and family who saw us shouting APC and change? Are the national leaders or other officers of the party saying that they didn’t go home with their Christmas packages?
“Since we won this election in April, there is nothing to show by the staff of APC that we won elections. Our governors, Senators, House of Representatives members and State Assembly members have increased without a reflection on the staff welfare. If it were the days of PDP, the victory of the party would have reflected on the staff.”
Also speaking, another staff stated that the National Working Committee of APC as constituted today should be reviewed to bring in a human face.
“Seven months after APC took over governance at the national level, the staff of the party that toured with the president to make his dreams come through are still left in the cold.
“We need to know where the problems are coming from that we staff are not being taken care of. What we continue to hear is that the governors didn’t bring money therefore there is no money to celebrate Christmas.
I don’t think it would be right for the leadership of APC to use their staff to do sacrifice for the needed change. “