There was uncertainty yesterday at the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) following the commencement of probe of APC staff ordered by its national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.
This is even as journalists covering the party were turned into internally displaced persons (IDPs), as the new national chairman also ordered them to vacate the main building of the national secretariat, leaving them stranded at the premises of the Buhari House.
Some members of the APC press corps and other journalists laboured under the heat of the midday sun for more that three hours waiting to be briefed by Adamu.
It was also a tensed moment for staff of the secretariat, including directors, as the investigation into the activities of the party was said to have commenced in earnest.
The probe of the affairs of the party from inception is said to be part of plans to sanitize the APC and discourage the kind of desperation shown by members who sought party positions in at the recent national convention.
Confirming the development, a source at the secretariat who did not want his name in print said, “At the moment, both the staff and non-staff do not know what the ongoing reorganisation at the APC secretariat will lead to. All our directors and other key staff are under probe, though some of them won’t escape sanction because their hands are not clean.
“Those we owe advert money may have to wait a little longer because the chairman directed last Friday that the account of the party should be frozen.”
Hinting of a possible probe, Adamu had said, “We will definitely, by the will of God Almighty, look at the secretariat.
It is my hope that by the time the transition committee report is submitted, you will have what they call clean bill of ledger and that is my prayer.”
Meanwhile, explaining why journalists were asked to vacate the media centre allocated to them, a party official said “The party leadership is embarking on a remodelling, hence the need to vacate the media centre.”
But a source at the APC national secretariat said the media centre at the ground-floor had been converted to the office of the national chairman instead of the former national chairman’s office upstairs.
The source who spoke on condition of anonymity told journalists: “You know our new national chairman is an old man who is not as energetic as Governor Buni or Comrade Adam Oshiomhole. In fact, it took him about 10 minutes to climbed the staircase to the 3rd floor this morning.”
While giving his acceptance speech after he was sworn in at Eagles Square penultimate Sunday, the former Nasarawa State governor had cautioned the media to be careful about their reportage of the APC administration.
Adamu said, “At this point, I wish to appeal to our journalists and media houses to revive and uphold the patriotic spirit of the founding fathers of their profession such as Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Malam Abubakar Imam, Alhaji Alade Odunewu and other media pioneers. Those great pioneers of Nigerian journalism always put the interests of Nigeria and its people above all other considerations and they always worked for the peace, progress and prosperity of Nigeria.
“Journalists and everyone else in Nigeria should uphold this spirit of selflessness and patriotism and continue to work hard for the success of the Nigerian project. It is not correct to assume that it is the work of political leaders alone that will make Nigeria great, that other citizens can sit on the sidelines and just observe and criticize. We should all remember the wisdom in the saying that the chain is no stronger than its weakest link.”