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Saraki, Dogara Give National Assembly Management Friday Deadline to Resolve Issues With Workers
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
The leadership of the National Assembly has given a marching order to the Assembly management to ensure that all issues bordering on the welfare of the protesting workers are sorted out before Friday.
To this end, Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Tuesday evening mandated the National Assembly Management Committee headed by the Clerk, Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Omolori, to resolve all issues raised by protesting members of staff and report back to them by Friday.
Saraki’s Media Adviser, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in a release issued in Abuja stated that the directive was given at a meeting attended by the National Assembly’s Management and members of staff under the umbrella of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), the Senate President and the Speaker – who addressed the meeting on behalf of the leadership of both chambers.
The duo were quoted to have said that it was important for the workers to be well motivated and their demands properly addressed in order to create a conducive atmosphere for the legislature to perform its duties.
The Senate President and Speaker noted that the demands of the workers were part of the responsibilities of the National Assembly Management and that the grievances of the workers should not be allowed to linger.
“The leadership of the National Assembly made it clear to the staff that the issues raised by them were previously unknown to the legislators and that even if they were known to the Senate President and the Speaker, the leadership could do little to address them because they fall under the purview of the NASS’s Management.
On the workers’ demand for a properly constituted National Assembly Service Commission, the Assembly leadership assured that the Commission will be constituted before Friday.
“The workers demanded for the implementation of the CONLESS system in the payment of their salaries and allowances, approval of new condition of service for the workers, among other issues. However, Dr. Saraki and Hon. Dogara, as well as their colleagues also reassured the workers that they will personally supervise how the management will eventually resolve the issues and ensure that the workers are not shortchanged”, the statement added.