PASAN threatens to shut down NASS over alleged N1bn leave grant scam

The Joint Congress of the Parliamentary Staff Association of National Assembly PASAN, National Assembly and National Assembly Service Commission has resolved to embark on an indefinite Strike commencing from midnight on Sunday 5th June 2022, over non-payment of outstanding balance of the National Minimum Wage.

The resolution was taken at the Joint Congress held on Thursday at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.

Naijablitznews.com recalled that the Association and Management of the National Assembly entered into a Memorandum of Understanding for Management to pay its members the reviewed Minimum Wage and other Allowances contained in the Revised Conditions of Service.

According to them, the PASAN Executive members while giving update on the meeting held with the management, disclosed that National Assembly’s management “insists that it shall not implement any allowances (including the Leave Grant already paid in the last two years) except they obtain approval or ratification from the National Salaries and Wages Commission.

“This position is absolutely in conflict with the functions of the National Assembly Commission, particularly Section 19 (1) of the Act establishing the Commission.

“The provisions of this Section expressly provides that the Commission shall among other things, make staff regulations relating generally to the conditions of service, including the power to fix salaries and allowances, of the staff of the National Assembly. Section 6(b) of the same Act also provides that ‘the Commission shall have power to pay its staff such remuneration as are approved by the National Assembly.

“In line with this provisions the National Assembly, approved the harmonized Consolidated Legislative Salary Structure (CONLESS) and Peculiar Allowances in 2010. And in 2018 the two Houses of the National Assembly also approved the Revised Conditions of Service 2018.”

They maintained that there is nowhere in the provisions of Section 3 (a) to (r) of the National Salaries and Wages Commission Act, where National Assembly Service Commission was subjected to get further approval from National Salaries and Wages Commission in terms of fixing salaries and wages.

“As such, the main function of the National Salaries and Wages Commission is to advise the Federal Government on national incomes policy. Consequently, paragraph (b) of Section 3 of the Act mandates the National Salaries and Wages Commission to keep the Federal Government informed on a continuing basis of movement of all forms of income and propose guidelines relating to profits, dividends and all incomes other than wages while paragraph (l) also mandates it to examine, streamline and recommend salary scales applicable to each post in the public service.

“Incidentally, for the purpose of ratifying a salary or wage approved by a statutory approving authority like both Houses of the National Assembly, the role of the Commission is to ratify such approval by making it official and keeping the records in its data bank, established under paragraph (i) of the same Section 3 of the National Salaries and Wages Commission Act.

“A situation where allowances approved by the National Assembly are termed ‘illegal’ is no doubt unfortunate. Indeed the decision to further stop the already implemented and existing Leave Grant is none more than injustice to beneficiaries who are staff of the National Assembly Service.

“Let us recall that, whereas the National Assembly approved and begun implementation of CONLESS in 2010 including its further increase in 2018, the correspondences from the National Salaries and Wages Commission ratifying the implementation of the earlier approvals were conveyed to the National Assembly at far later periods in 2015 and 2021 respectively.

“It is also important to state that the first-line-charge status of the National Assembly means that the Service as an independent arm of government presents a one line budget item, and at best, shows the various appropriations to the three Departments of Management, Senate and House of Representatives. For this reason, the breakdown of items in the lump sum are known only to those who prepare them and the Chairmen of Appropriations Committees of both Houses of the National Assembly who are mandated to approve them.

“One wonders, why there is an allusion by Management that a Commission of the Executive Arm shall query the implementation of details of the lump sum for possible contravention of provisions of the Appropriations Act, where they were never included in the Appropriations Act in the first place.

“In any case, having created an expenditure head line to pay staff Leave Grant which amounts to close to a billion naira, it becomes curious to decipher whether such monies would be returned to the treasury in the event that the implementation of Leave Grant is stopped as envisaged by Management.

“Let us not forget in a hurry that in line with Section 14 (4) of the National Assembly Service Commission Act 2014, the Commission upon recommendation by the Management has created Directorates, Departments and Divisions including the appointments of attendant Secretaries, Directors along with other staff. Note also that these creations and appointments are accompanied with financial obligations.

“Why then should Section 14 (4) be implemented without approvals or ratification from relevant establishment bodies in the Civil Service while Section 19 is contemplated to require approval from another agent of the executive? The same National Salaries and Wages Commission that requires the National Assembly to approve its annual budget to enhance her operations.

“This may not be unconnected with the same way the National Assembly passed the Minimum Wage Act but relied on a circular from the same Commission to pay 16months out of the approved 25 months arrears of the Minimum Wage,” the Association noted.

Meanwhile, ongoing efforts by the National Assembly management to avert the industrial action proved abortive on Friday, as Executive members of PASAN shunned the invitation to attend an emergency meeting initiated by the Clerk for the National Assembly, Architect Amos Ojo.

The meeting was aimed at persuading the PASAN Executive Members to discontinue the mobilisation of staff for the industrial action scheduled for Monday.