By Christiana Ekpa
The National Assembly Legislative Aides Forum (NASSLAF) yesterday protested the non-payment of their salaries over a year.
The protesters who made known their grievance by marching in the foyer of the National Assembly with placards and singing solidarity songs.
They also complained about the Consolidated Legislative Aides Salary Structure, the non-payment of minimum wage and duty tour allowance among other issues.
One of them, Lawson Oviasogie, said, “We are a body of close to 5000 legislative aides assigned to lawmakers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we are here to draw the world’s attention to the impunity and reckless disregard for authority happening here. We believe that as the premier lawmaking institution and the body that oversees other agencies, that this institution should start by overseeing itself because charity begins at home.
“We assumed this ninth Assembly on the 11th of June 2019 and salaries of aides that was appropriated for and we have not been paid. We are trying to explore all the internal dispute resolution mechanisms. We will take every legitimate step to address the issues.
“The other issue is CONLESS which is our salary. This is part of the discrimination we are talking about. The staff who are called Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) are on 50 per cent CONLESS, we aides who are the engine room of the lawmakers we are on 22 per cent.
“The other issue is the issue of minimum wage, which some executive agencies have been receiving since last year. Until now we have not received one. The other issue is the DTA duty tour allowance. It has been stopped. They have not paid us once.”
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