Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has abandoned the construction of its 12-storey new secretariat due to paucity of funds.
BNL Construction and Engineering Company handling the construction of the edifice has since moved out of site following the inability of the party to provide more funds for the project.
When PREMIUM TIMES visited the site located on Muhammadu Buhari Way in the Central Business District of Abuja, only three staff of the company were seen providing security for the uncompleted building.
One of them told PREMIUM TIMES that the company withdrew from the site in 2014 because the party, which only left power at the centre about 18 months ago, could no longer mobilise money to continue the project.
Uduak Usoro, a contact person for BNL Limited, confirmed to this newspaper that work had stopped on the site.
“The site is no longer active but you can still see some of our staff there,” he said in a telephone interview.
Mr. Usoro however declined to speak on the reason why the company demobilized from site.
“I can’t answer further questions; you are a journalist. I don’t know why you are asking. I’m sorry, please.”
HOW PROJECT WAS INITIATED
The construction of a new secretariat was conceived in 2008 by Ahmadu Ali, the fourth national chairman of the PDP, due to inadequate office space in the present secretariat in Zone 5, Wuse District of the federal capital.
John Odey, who was the party’s spokesperson when the project was conceived, told PREMIUM TIMES that Namadi Sambo, an architect and former vice president of Nigeria, was mandated by the party to produce the project design.
Mr. Odey did not however say if Mr. Sambo, who was then governor of Kaduna State, was paid for the services.
On November 14, 2008, the party’s new National Chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, who had assumed office in March, organised a fund raising dinner in Abuja to raise the initial N10 billion targeted to commence the project.
At the dinner chaired by the then vice president, Goodluck Jonathan, over N6 billion was raised for the project with businessman, Femi Otedola, donating the highest amount of N1 billion and his late father, Michael Otedola donating N25 million.
Other major donors included Aliko Dangote who promised to supply cement worth N3 billion; the PDP National Working Committee, N1 billion; Bola Shagaya, N25 million; Strabag Construction Company N100 million; Ogun State, N10 million; and an anonymous donor, N100 million.
Late President Umaru Yar’Adua and his then deputy, Mr. Jonathan, contributed N527,205 and N454,735, representing 15 per cent of their basic salaries, respectively.
Mr. Ogbulafor had earlier announced that each of the party’s 28 state governors at the time would contribute N50 million towards the project.
The contract was subsequently awarded to BNL Limited to which the party gave an initial N2 billion.
The project was billed to be completed in 126 weeks.
It was gathered that because of the construction variations over the years, the project cost rose to N16 billion out of which the party had paid N6 billion before work stopped.
CRITICISMS TRAIL
The fund raising dinner drew scathing criticisms from the opposition, which accused the then ruling party of insensitivity by embarking on the project when Nigerians were battling hunger and poverty.
The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, in a statement by its then spokesperson, Osita Okechukwu, described the event as “corruption incorporated.”
The group of opposition parties said the PDP had merely demonstrated not only the unholy alliance between the party and “corporate Nigeria, but corruption incorporated, insensitivity, disconnect with citizens and total abuse of power.”
It further said the launch showed that the leadership of the PDP “is only obsessed with ruling Nigeria for 60 years by crook and least concerned about the mass poverty, gross unemployment, decayed infrastructure and total hopelessness in the land.”
The defunct Action Congress also criticised the PDP for initiating the project, while 14 other opposition parties instituted a suit in court on the matter.
But the PDP, in response to the criticisms, said it had no apology for living up to the standards expected of it in the political environment of the time.
“Given our history and strategic position not only as the leading party in Nigeria but also as the ruling party, we have a historic responsibility to set the pace and standard expected of a party of our status in an emerging democracy,” Rufa’i Alkali, the party’s former spokesperson said.
But for a long time, the PDP, which styles itself the biggest party in Africa, could not complete the building, despite being in power at the centre between 1999 and 2015, during which it produced the nation’s three presidents in a row: Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr. Yar’Adua and Mr.Jonathan.
At some point, the party also controlled about 28 of Nigeria’s 36 states.
However, in October 2013, five years after the project was initiated, the then National Chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur, initiated fresh moves to re-mobilise the contractors to site.
Mr. Tukur constituted a 20-member committee chaired by the then governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, who was the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, to raise money for the party.
Other members of the committee were former Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State, who served as the deputy chairman; the then Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke; her counterpart in the Transportation ministry, Idris Umar; Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; and a senator. Hope Uzodima.
Ben Okoye, Shittu Mohammed, Bolaji Anani, Sani Dauda, King A.J. Turner and Bala Buhari were also members of the committee.
Part of the money to be raised was going to be used to complete the new secretariat.
Mr. Tukur tasked the committee to help mobilise resources to ensure the completion of the project just as he called on party members and the public to support it.
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