Nigeria Content Online

The National
Assembly staff on Wednesday barricaded the main entrance to the
chambers for hours, following protest over their unpaid salaries and
allowances.

The staff, who
serve the lawmakers directly as aides and in other service departments,
alleged that the National Assembly management has refused to pay them a
100% increase in their salaries, which was due since July.

The protesting
workers, under the aegis of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria,
and numbering about 400 – including the security men – flooded the
entrance to the chambers chanting solidarity songs and booing at their
director of finance, Abdulazeez Bukoye. They alleged that even though
the Senate president has approved the funds since July, their
management fixed their salary in a bank account where it will yield
interest for some months out of selfish interests.

The deputy clerk of
the National Assembly, Muyiwa Adejokun, who spoke to the protesting
workers on behalf of the management, denied the allegations, saying the
finance ministry was yet to release funds for the implementation of the
salary increase.

For the sake of a
‘distinctive identity’ and a desire to attract and retain high calibre
workforce, the National Assembly had in July approved a 100% increase
in the salaries of the National Assembly workforce. The increase was a
result of an agreement reached by the National Assembly Service
Commission and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria.

The increment is
said to have taken effect from January this year, but would be deployed
in batches: 50% to be paid immediately, while the balance will be
spread over the next eight years. The 50% balance will be added up
incrementally by 20%, 15%, and 15% after the second, sixth, and eight
year respectively.

According to George
Sekibo, the chairman, Senate committee on labour, who spoke on behalf
of the Senate, confirmed that the Senate president has approved the
payments, and asked the workers to give them within a fortnight to
verify from the finance ministry why the money has not been released.
He also requested that the workers nominate five of its members to be
part of the delegation to the finance ministry.

The workers,
however, reluctantly accepted his offer to intervene, but said they
will down tools if the delegation fails to get the money out in the
specified date.

The protesting workers spoke individually; they had no leader as their president, Rawlings Agada, absconded from the protest.