The National Assembly on Monday, had an increase in armed security personnel following proposed protest by aides to members of the Assembly, over salary arrears.
The Legislative Aides, had threatened to shut down the federal parliament from Monday September 27, to protest an alleged non payment of salary arrears and allowances in 2019 summing up to N3.1bn (N1.35bn in salary arrears and N1.75bn for consequential adjustment on minimum wage).
A statement signed by the Coordinator of SAALA, Zebis Prince, and five other members of the leadership stated that they will picket the National Assembly Complex, as well as the venue of the training organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies on Monday and Tuesday, to press home their demand for better working conditions.
According to them, over 1,300 aides are owed salary arrears, while none of the 2,345 legislative aides had received the consequential adjustment on minimum wage since their appointments in June 2019.
However, Chairman of the National Assembly Legislative Aides Forum, Salisu Zuru, disowned SAALA, describing their planned action as illegal.
“These Aides are embarking on illegality because none of them is an executive member or Members of CWC of NASSLAF, the body constitutionally empowered to run the affairs of aides.
“The peace of NASS should not be allowed to be disrupted in the guise of salary arrears” Zuru said in a statement on Sunday.
According to the Clerk to the National Assembly, Ojo Olatunde Amos, “Efforts were made to offset the arrears”.
Ojo who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Labour Matters, Austen Adesoro, added that;
“The Principal Officers are doing their best to ensure that whatever needs to be done is done to ensure the release of the funds from the Ministry of Finance”.
Meanwhile, report says various security personnel including the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Department of State Services (DSS), and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), have been deployed in strategic locations to complement the sergeants-at-arms.
