Senators okay jumbo pay for National Assembly staffs - 100% salary increase

By Funmi Komolafe, Ben Agande & Inalegwu Shaibu
ABUJA—EVEN before the committee set up by the Federal Government to review the salary of federal civil servants complete its assignment, the Senate, yesterday, approved a 100 per cent salary increase for workers of the National Assembly, to be implemented over eight years.

The increment which followed the submission of the report of the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Services will lead to an increase in the wage bill of the National Assembly to N11,040,598,314.

By the proposed pay package, the minimum salary earner in the National Assembly would go home with N32,034.66 per month while a fresh university graduate would earn N104,984.40.

Assistant directors and directors are to earn N359,922.64 and N437,644.58 respectively, while clerks of Senate and Reps would earn N1,153,512.42 per month. As for legislative aides, special assistants on GL.14 are to earn 437,693.68 per month.

Labour kicks

President-general of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, Comrade Esele described the pay raise approved for National Assembly workers as “good” but warned that failure to extend it to workers in other sectors would be resisted by organized labour.

Comrade Esele told Vanguard, yesterday: “It is our expectation that it will go down to everybody. It is our expectation that this will flow from top to bottom. Any attempt not to make it flow will be resisted by organized labour.
“We know that the National Assembly members have also increased their pay though they are denying it.”

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, General Secretary, Comrade John Odah, said the pay rise granted National Assembly workers was a far cry from what the legislators awarded to themselves.

He said: “Our principle is that workers should be paid different wages. The wage increase falls within that context. Though the relativity between the Senators and the House of Representatives salary and their paid staff are outrageously wide and would need much more to breach this”.

Comrade Odah said: “Given what the Senators and the House of Representatives had awarded themselves as pay rise, the Assembly workers’ wage increase is belated and not commensurate with what they have awarded themselves.”

Implementation schedule

The implementation of the new salary structure was, however, subject to harmonization of the Senate and the House of Representatives versions by a committee to be selected by the two houses.

The report of the committee which was presented by Senator Mohammed Ahmad showed an increase of N1.9 billion above the total current payroll cost of N2.7 billion to bring the total proposed payroll cost to N4.6 billion for National Assembly core staff, while the total cost for the National Assembly Service Commission was expected to rise to N437million, from its current figure of N277Million.

The cost of paying legislative aides to members of the National Assembly when the increment became effective would be N6 billion from the present bill of N3.5billion.

While 50 per cent of the figures were to be implemented as soon as the increase became effective, the balance would be spread over a period of eight years in the following ratio: 20 per cent after two years, 15 per cent after four years and 15 per cent after two years respectively.

The report which was first presented to the Senate on Tuesday saw the senators arguing that the National Assembly was an independent arm of government whose legislative staff were peculiar by dint of their nature of work.

Senators who spoke on the new salary structure argued that staff of the National Assembly worked extra hours than their contemporaries in the public service and deserved special encouragement.

Is this true????????.We are in trouble.

Let us then head to national assembly for job,what a wicked representatives?.

God dey.

Let me start by countering the claim that a National Assembly staffer works harder or longer than the regular civil servant. I had worked as a Clerk Assistant (not clerical assistant, mind you) briefly in the Second Republic. I was then attached to the Deputy Clerk of the House. In all honesty, I was never challenged by the hours of work nor its volume in comparison with what my counterparts in the civil service faced then. Yet, we were entitled to a 25% legislative allowance, which made us earn above the core civil servants. So, the tradition has been there a long time ago for NASS staff to eran higher than their counterparts in the core civil service.

I think the wage discrepancies have more to do with the power status of the NASS members, who genuinely or otherwise feel that the staff that serve them need to look decent to match their own status as esteemed legislators. From a less enobling angle, the NASS staffers need to be made happy too, and care is taken not to let them feel left out from the "goodies" that the assemblymen are giving to themselves. I won't call it a bribe, but it has the same effect.

This "bribe" practice is not exclusive to the NASS. It happens in every sector of the economy. The top echelon want an enhancement in pay, but they can't do it alone without the cooperation and compromise of the lower staffers. It then becomes a matter of "if you take yours, you should give me mine", in an unending conspiratorial fashion.

Our labour unions have been pursuing this conspiratorial method all along. They prefer this option of allowing the thief, so to say, to keep his loot as long as the latter is ready to create a loot avenue for them as well. This way, labour is being used as an accessory to looting. Unfortunately, labour gets worse off each time the small loot provided to them turns round to make them worse off in the end. The vicious cycle goes on.

I think the wage discrepancies have more to do with the power status of the NASS members, who genuinely or otherwise feel that the staff that serve them need to look decent to match their own status as esteemed legislators. From a less enobling angle, the NASS staffers need to be made happy too, and care is taken not to let them feel left out from the "goodies" that the assemblymen are giving to themselves. I won't call it a bribe, but it has the same effect.

This is also my own line of thinking,so that they could hid all their mischiefs and aid in their looting business.Something is fishy.

dan auta ;Let us then head to national assembly for job,what a wicked representatives?.

It is only their children and girlfriends that can enter their,no employment for the ordinary there.

At such a critical time worldwide when Nations are cutting cost and looking for ways to harmonize their economy,these so called law makers are destroying Nigeria.

What do you expect my people,a man can never act beyond his wisdoms.

N1.9 billion increased

For goodness sake, 100%? This is Madness.We were all here when ASUU cries out for pay raise, they all turn their back,Days turn into months and months almost into a year,students have no where to go ,crime rate was on the increase,yet they kept mom,Now ,they are effortlessly increasing salary when all the nations of the world are reducing national debts.

Incredible people.
The FOI bill has been there for more than a year now nothing has been heard about it,Uwais report is being kicked about to make us loose sight of it ,the Anti-graft bill [for recovery of ill gotten wealth] is still there starched under their desk, and etc but allof a sudden they just came up with salary increase and it has been passed even before it´s conceived,just like they did for the Maritime security bill.
Incredible people.Which seed are you sowing for your children?.