Tension is at its peak at the National Assembly among the staff over plans by the Senate to give concurrence to a controversial bill on the extension of the retirement age for civil servants in the nation’s Parliament and across the 36 State Houses of Assembly.
The bill for the elongation of the tenure of the Clerk to the National Assembly, a highly coveted office, had been passed by the Femi Gbajabiamila-led House of Representatives before he resigned from the lower legislative Chamber.
The bill would have to pass by the Senate for it to be concurred before assent by the President.
Although it is yet to be laid on the Order Paper as at Thursday’s plenary, the bill stipulates an extension of retirement age for Clerk-to-the National Assembly from 60 to 65 years of age and from 35 to 40 years of service.
Apprehensive by the reports that the upper legislative Chamber was set to pass the controversial bill, some staff of the National Assembly vowed to cause civil unrest in protest against the development, insisting that the controversial bill would stunt the growth of staff down the ladder.
According to documents cited by our correspondent, the current Clerk to the National Assembly, Sani Tambawal Magaji, joined the National Assembly Service in April 1990 (34 years) and was born in 1965.
If the Bill scales through, he will remain in office until he’s 65 and 40 years in service.
The Senate had on Wednesday listed the controversial Bill, which had passed a third reading in the House of Representatives for concurrence after it passed the first reading in the Senate some weeks ago.
Several attempts have been made by the two Chambers of the apex legislature to extend the retirement age of the members of staff of the National Assembly since 2017.
Successive managements of the National Assembly bureaucracy since 2017 made attempts to allegedly, buy over the leadership and members of the Senate and the House of Representatives to make a law extending the tenure of service as against the condition prescribed by the Public Service Rules, which provides for retirement age of persons in the public service of the federation at the attainment of 60 years of age or 35 year of service whichever comes first.
While the Management vigorously pursued its goal, the Staff of the National Assembly under the aegis of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) under the chairmanship of Bature Musa rejected the Bill in its entirety.
It rather admonished the management of the National Assembly to ensure the full implementation of the welfare and allowance packages as contained in the service’s Conditions of Service.
The rejection of the Bill was attributed to what the workers’ Union termed an “attempt by the Clerk of the National Assembly and the management team to perpetuate themselves in office for another 5 years after they are due for retirement from service.
The Union in a unanimous decision, rejected the Bill, saying it was against the position of Council of Establishment of the Federation, which pegged the retirement age at either 60 years of age or 35 years of service – whichever comes first.
The Union also argued that the controversial Bill, if passed, would bring stagnation to the career progression of its members, and thus would serve only the interest of the management staff, especially those who are due for retirement from service.
Again, the Union also averred that the passage of the Bill contravenes the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and runs contrary to the Federal Government policy on youth development and empowerment.
The Union advanced its argument by illustrating that perpetuating persons who have served the nation for 35 years or attained 60 years of age will not make room for employment of Nigerian youths some of whom graduated for more than 10 years without gainful employment.
Consequently, the Union in a letter addressed to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, denounced the Bill and threatened industrial action should the legislators go ahead to pass the Bill.
It said the Union’s position led the two Chambers to discontinue action on the Bill which was respectively sponsored by Sunday Akon in the House and Senator Stella Odua in the Senate during the 9th Assembly.
However, determined to see it through, the management allegedly reached a deal with the National Assembly Service Commission and smuggled the tenure extension into the Conditions of Service in use in the National Assembly Service but the Union protested and forced the Commission to expunge it from the revised edition of the Conditions of Service currently in use.
The revision led to the retirement of the then Clerk to the National Assembly, Ataba Sani Omolori and 150 staff of the service.
However, further attempts were made in the House of Representatives under the speakership of Femi Gbajabiamila, but were rejected by the House thus, the Bill did not see the light of the day under the then Clerk to the National Assembly, Amos Olatunde Ojo.
Presently, the Management led by the current Clerk to the National Assembly, Magaji Sani Tambawal is again pushing for it.
The Bill has passed in the House of Representatives and is presently before the Senate for concurrence. The Senate after taking the first reading of the Bill some weeks ago reversed itself and listed it for concurrence on Wednesday 14, February, 2024.
However, a group of staff of the apex lawmaking body in the land has rejected the attempt by the Senate to concur with the decision of the House of Representatives, citing the same reasons adduced by the Union in 2019.
The staff have queried the move, asking what has changed in 2024 that is motivating the present Assembly to buy into the Bill to the extent that it is in a hurry to get it passed.
The workers said the leadership of the Workers Union in the National Assembly Service may have been compromised. The group of staff alleged that the management of the National Assembly, led by Tambawal got the Sunday Sabiyyi-led Executive of the Union, hence, the deafening silence in the Union.
They accused the chairman of buying into the attempt to stagnate the majority of staff and blocking the viable youth population who would be employed into the service upon the retirement of over 200 staff who are due to retire between 2024 and 2026, because of selfish interest as he stands to benefit from the extension if passed and assented to.
They wondered why the leadership which led the struggle against the Bill during Omolori and Ojo respectively would now go against the Union’s stand.
They called on the leadership of the Senate to throw away the Bill in the public and national interest, calling their attention to the prevalent crime rate among Nigerian youths due to the alarming unemployment.
They also called on the National Assembly management to concentrate on implementing workers’ friendly welfare to ameliorate the suffering among staff who said they’re been denied the salary approved for them since 2010 by the management.
