Saturday, September 13, 2025 -The long-drawn controversy of how free civil servants should be in maters of politics rose again Saturday, this time in Adamawa State as the ward congress of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was being held.
While the Supreme Court has long reinforced the
constitutional freedom for all Nigerians to participate in politics without
hindrance, much to the joy of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC; civil service
technocrats have frequently rejected such freedom.
As the PDP Congress was holding Saturday afternoon, the PDP
Adamawa Ward Congress Committee, Chairman, Timothy Kataps, said in response to
questions from newsmen that no Nigerian should under any circumstance hold two
public offices at the same time.
Kataps, a lawyer and Secretary to the Taraba State
Government, said while freedom of association is guaranteed under the law,
civil servants who wish to contest elections must resign before doing so from
any public office they may be holding.
“The
constitution allows everybody freedom of association, which includes civil
servants. You can belong to any political party, but when it comes to
contesting an election, you must relinquish one. You cannot be a civil servant
and at the same time seek elective office,” Kataps said.
He hailed the conduct of the party’s ward congresses across
Adamawa’s 226 wards and expressed optimism that the congress, holding in other
parts of the country, is part of the activities expected to make the PDP a
better party nationally.
Speaking to journalists as his Committee concluded its
monitoring of the congresses Saturday afternoon, Kataps admitted that the party
is battling challenges at the national level, but expressed confidence that it
would overcome them.
He said, “Yes, we are facing our fair share of challenges at
the moment, some self-inflicted and others caused by those seeking to
destabilize the party, but I can assure you, the PDP is a party that is deeply
rooted in Nigeria.”
He said the party remains in the hearts of the people, and
Nigerians love it, asserting, “The PDP will rise again.”
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