PDP Faces Financial Crisis, Can't Pay Salaries

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have fallen on hard times as it is finding it difficult to meet its obligations to its workers and others.
According to a report yesterday by an online news medium, Greenberg Reporters, the party has been unable to pay advertisers and other service providers.

The medium quoted sources as attributing the poor state of financial affairs of the party to, among others, the infighting between the two factions of the party.

The party has been enmeshed in a serious power struggle following the formation of New PDP in the wake of the party’s special national convention in Abuja in August when seven governors of the party and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, among others, walked out of the convention to announce the formation of the faction.

It was learnt that while the usual flow of cash from the presidency has virtually stopped for reasons not known, some financial supporters of the party have lately turned their backs on the party.

A party source said support from the governors in the two factions had dropped since the crisis started.

“The party depends on donations mostly to fund its operations. Since the crisis started, both the pro and anti-Tukur governors have stopped or reduced their donations. That is why we are where we are now,” the source said.

The mainstream PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, is said to be shouldering stop-gap expenses with the support of a few officials, in addition to support from some top government officials.
In a bid to avoid its operations from grinding to a halt, the party has been meeting its service providers on debt owed them in a bid to keep the secretariat functioning.

It was gathered that successive leaderships of the party failed to enforce the membership dues and contributions by elected and appointed government officials who belong to the party.

It was discovered that the party in its 14 years of existence, relied on donations from governors and other rich party members, while abandoning the official sources of funding.

“There is no point lying. We are broke. Funding is not coming like before. But efforts are being made to normalise the situation," an official said.