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By CLS
The National Assembly Service Commission was established for a fundamental purpose of preservation of the legislative institutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Every organisation has its line departments and service departments, the legislative arm of Federal Republic of Nigeria is not an exception. The line departments in all legislative bureaucracy is that of the Senate and the House of Representatives, just like the judicial arm of government where, a non judicial official, can not head the supreme court, either as registrar or as a Chief Justice of Nigeria. The National Assembly bureaucracy should be headed by a professional legislative chamber Clerk and not a non professional (ie an Accountant or Information Officers). The appointment of an Architect, a non legislative chamber staff by the Leadership and the National Assembly Service Commission is the beginning of all the legislative problems in the National Assembly.
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The standard legislative practice globally abound in advanced democracies we copied from America, Canada, Australia etc. So the appointment of the Clerk, Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, Clerk Senate and House of Representatives must be from the most senior, qualified and experienced legislative Clerks.
The leadership of National Assembly and that of the Commission should be properly guided in the extant public service rule of Federal Republic of Nigeria too,especially when it comes to the appointment of the Clerks in National Assembly, retirement procedures and full implementation of the conditions/scheme of service in the legislature. Its very glaring to state the pathological hatred for a particular race in the National Assembly, If Alhaji Danbatta, Mr Giwa, Dr Ebel Ochigbo, Michael Okpara and Bala Yabani are not forced out of office, under the pretence of pre-retirement leave, why should Olatunde Amos Ojo, be forced to proceed on pre-retirement leave which is against rule?
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Other infractions committed by the National Assembly Service Commission, is the undue six months extension granted the former Clerk of the Senate, El-Ladan Dauda Ibrahim; the unnecessary vacuum always been created by the Commission as evidence from Abel Ochigbo who retired on June 2nd while Cletus Ojabo that replaced him was not appointed until after three months of Abel retirement; and Michael Okpara who retired in August/September, 2022, what happened to their three months salaries and allowances that was appropriated for?
Another major crime been perpetrated under the nose of the Commission was the retirement of Gideon Jock who went to contest for the House of Representatives and lost at the primary of his political party, after his voluntary withdrawal from the service, what’s he doing with the Committee on Appropriation in the National Assembly till date? The same applied to his colleague in the Appropriation Department of the House of Representatives, Haddi Abubakar, whose case is still pending with the ICPC, a level 10 Officer whose accounts is reading billions of Naira, yet the two people are in charge of Appropriation in the House of Representatives. What kind of Appropriation are we expecting from these Officers? What’s the National Assembly Service Commission doing to immediately sanitize and preserve the dignity of the legislative institution?
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On the appointment of the Clerks in the National Assembly, let us emphasis that, Clerks is not for sell or for any highest bidder, because there is a chain of command or hierarchy within the legislative bureaucracy before the establishment of National Assembly Service Commission.
Therefore, we at the Concerned Legislative Staff, warned that the legislative chain of hierarchy should be sustained/retained in the interest of the system.
Finally, we call on the National Assembly Service Commission to serve the Nation through the legislative arm with honesty, dignity and the fear of God, if not we are ready to lead a massive protest to demand for the scrabbling of the Commission,as they are causing more harm than good for the legislative arm of Government in the Country and by extension our hard earned democratic polity.
Signed
Concern Legislative Staff.