The ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is currently facing a financial crisis as ministers and National Assembly members have failed to pay their dues, according to Leadership.
According to a senior party official, senators and ministers are to pay N100,000 monthly as dues, while those in the House of Representatives are to pay N70,000 to keep the party running.
The party has 59 senators and 225 reps members who have been in office for 17 months, while 35 ministers have spent 12 months in office.
However, the NASS members and the ministers have failed to fulfil their financial obligations to the party.
The senior party officer, who said the failure to pay dues was against the party’s constitution, revealed that only Minister of State for Works, Power and Housing, Mustapha Baba Shehuri, from Borno State had paid some of the dues to the party.
The power supply to the party’s national secretariat was cut earlier this month following its inability to offset the N1.7 million debt owed the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).
The source said, “Again, the Ministers have equally refused to pay their monthly dues. It is only one minister that has paid his due. From the records, it is the minister of state for works. From the charter of the party, the ministers and senators are supposed to pay N100,000 each monthly. The party is seriously in financial problem. We have not been able to settle loads of debt on our tables.
“It is even worse when the expenditure profile is in the average of N100 million per month. The party is struggling to get the overhead because some governors that pick the bills have refused to pay. The funds don’t come direct but in the form of the governors bankrolling the visits of the national officers on visits to their states.
“It is so bad now that the party is even struggling to get the overhead. The overhead, which is not an income is not even enough, considering the financial commitment of the national officers. They have aides, logistics and even fuelling of their official vehicles. It would have been better if they had fixed allowances given to each of them.”
He added, “The financial problem of the party came from the decision of Mr President not to sponsor the party because he doesn’t want to make the mistakes of the PDP. True to his word, nothing came to the party from the Presidency since June 2015 when the party took over power.
“How many APC governors, Ministers or NASS members have you seen coming to the party national secretariat for anything? This is because they are running away from responsibilities,” the source concluded.
