From June 7 to 14, workers of the National Assembly (NASS) under the auspices of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), shut down the legislative complex as they embarked on strike in protest against the management’s alleged non-compliance with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) earlier entered into with them. The MOU, according to the workers, had to do with payment of stipulated arrears of salaries and allowances owed them for months. But for the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which held last week, and for which the National Assembly postponed resumption of plenary till June 14 (Tuesday), the action of the workers would have had a more biting effect as they crippled all activities at the complex.

Among the grievances of the workers were the reported non-payment by the management of five months outstanding balance of minimum wage, year 2021 rent subsidy, 15 months arrears of Conpeculiar allowances, six months arrears of hazard allowances as well as non-payment of outstanding National Minimum Wage and Implementation of Revised Conditions of Service (2018). In January, the workers had demonstrated and threatened a strike over these unmet obligations. It would appear that they were further annoyed by the stoppage of some allowances that the management had earlier started paying.

According to the Chairman of PASAN, Mr Sunday Fabiyi, the management insisted that it would not implement any allowances, including the leave grant already being paid in the last two years, unless it obtained approval or ratification from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission. The inexplicable question is why it commenced payment of the allowances in the first place without the requisite statutory authorisation? Surely, the aggrieved workers cannot be blamed if they are suspicious of the motive.

Explaining the rationale for non-payment, so far, of the workers’ demands, the National Assembly Commission chairman, Mr. Ahmed Amshi, said “There is no approval yet from the Salaries, Income and Wages Commission for the payment of allowances contained in the conditions of service. The management had started payment of some of the allowances but had to stop due to series of letters of advice from the Salaries and Wages Commission indicating that any payment of such allowances, without approval from the Presidential Steering Committee on allowances payable to public servants is an infraction to extant rules and regulations”.

He affirmed further that the commission had done its part by transmitting the request of the National Assembly to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), who stated that it is only the Presidential Steering Committee that has the authority to approve the payment of such allowances.

Senate President Ahmed Lawan also stressed the need to adhere to stipulated processes and procedures in setting and paying the salaries and allowances of the workers.

As persuasive as these contentions may sound, the workers can legitimately ask if, in fixing their own humongous allowances which have been widely and repeatedly condemned across the country, the legislators themselves have subjected themselves to any regulatory agency or authority.

It has been claimed that the over-bloated allowances being collected by the legislators in a country where millions are condemned to pervasive poverty does not fall within the stipulated limits set by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC). Yet, the senators and House of Representatives members have persistently turned deaf ears to this outcry. Are they thus standing on a sound moral pedestal to preach adherence to due process and procedures by the workers? We don’t think so.

It is quite appropriate that the Senate President has directed that “The payment of the allowances that started but stopped must be continued with effect from the receipt of June 2022 fund allocation to the National Assembly…”. The workers were also promised that by July, approval would be got from the requisite bodies and payment of arrears of stipulated allowances would be completed.

It is important that these conditions, which prompted the suspension of the strike, be met to prevent another disruptive action in that very critical institution. No less important is the need for the legislators to show the right example for other categories of staff in the National Assembly to follow in terms of their remuneration and sundry allowances.