Aides to senators and members of the House of Representatives under the aegis of National Assembly Legislative Aides Forum (NASSLAF) have accused the management of the federal parliament of diverting the N25bn meant to pay the arrears of their minimum wage for 21 months.
The forum has therefore threatened to lead its 4,000 members on a peaceful protest next week Wednesday, to demand their money.
Chairman of the forum, Salisu Zuru said, “In the 2019 Appropriation Act, N128bn was appropriated for salaries and overhead for legislators, National Assembly bureaucracy and legislative aides. This means that salaries and allowances of legislative aides and their principals (legislators) take effect from the day of inauguration of the 9th Assembly officially recognised as their date of assumption of duty, June 11, 2019.
“Legislative aides usually assume duty the same day with their principals but due to bottlenecks from the then National Assembly Service Commission, aides received appointment letters between June 11 and December 31, 2019, endorsed by their principals with an effective date from June 11, 2019. When it was time for payment of the arrears, management chose to pay some aides and refused to pay others.”
“As a prelude to what to expect in the coming weeks, the exco will lead over 4,000 legislative aides on a peaceful protest, Wednesday, March 2, 2022, from 8am. Accordingly, all aides are hereby mobilised to turn up en masse. After the warning protests, we shall reveal our next line of actions.”
However, the Clerk to the National Assembly, Mr Amos Ojo, denied diversion of the fund.
