By Ezrel Tabiowo Abuja
Frustrated by the non-payment of allowances, running into billions of naira, legislative aides in National Assembly have concluded plans to disrupt plenary proceedings anytime soon, Blueprint Weekend can exclusively report.
Their plot to shut down both chambers of NASS was hatched following a series of allegations made against the bureaucracy in connection with diversion of funds budgeted for the payment of DTA in the 2016 and 2017 budgets. Some of the aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity with Blueprint Weekend, alleged that their allowances for eight quarters were diverted by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Omolori. According to the aides, payment of salaries and allowances took a dramatic turn for the worse when Omolori assumed office as Clerk of the National Assembly Th e aides also alleged that the total amount owed them as allowances was whooping N1.4 billion.
Th ey lamented that funds meant for the usual training and capacity building for aides, and provided for in the annual budget, was also diverted by the bureaucracy headed by SaniOmolori. Findings by our correspondent showed that despite the appropriation of N150m for training and capacity building for aides in this year’s budget alone, no plan has been made by the authorities.
Th e aides further lamented that under SaniOmolori, there has been total collapse of facilities such Internet services at the National Assembly Complex, compelling them to seek alternative and personal means of carrying out offi cial duties. Th ey also complained that all entreaties to the Senate and House of Representatives fell on deaf ears and were met with several threats to pay their salaries directly to the accounts of their employers instead.
Th e aides also alleged that the Clerk of the National Assembly had severally foiled a couple of attempts by the workers to protest the nonpayment of allowances by deploying security agencies such as the police at the National Assembly to intimidate and harass them on separate occasions. Th e aides, who also complained bitterly over the delay in payment of salaries under SaniOmolori, disclosed that the package for legislative aides, which used to be domiciled with Skye bank, was moved to Suntrust Bank, where the Clerk had interests.
It was also disclosed that upon attempting to unravel the delay in payment of salaries, they stumbled on information that “their delayed salaries were used for interest yielding transactions”. According to them, the National Assembly bureaucracy in concert with Suntrust Bank, orchestrated a wicked plot which had those aides, whose salary accounts were domiciled with the bank as benefi ciaries of timely payment.
T e aides said those of them with accounts domiciled with other banks were, ‘ intentionally’ frustrated and punished by Suntrust Bank for failing to have their salary accounts lodged with the bank. Investigations by Blueprint Weekend, however, revealed that the aides are not the only ones caught in the Sani-Omolori fray, as lawmakers of both chambers lamented the delay in payment of quarterly allowances as well.
A few of the lawmakers, who spoke on condition of anonymity with our reporter, lamented that despite appropriation for the purchase of new vehicles for them, only a handful had taken delivery of theirs, leaving the expectations of majority dashed. All attempts by our reporter to get the Accounts Department to react to issues raised by legislative aides proved futile as no one was willing to make comments for fear of being targeted by the National Assembly bureaucracy
