A Bill for an Act to Make Provisions for the Retirement Age of Staff of National Assembly Service and for Other Related Matters, 2024.
Other Related Matters (HB.529) brought for discussion by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, APC, Ekiti Central, was read the third time on Thursday after the Committee of the Whole passed.
A Civil Society Organisation, Alliance for Credible Legislative Conduct, has urged
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sign a Bill to give effect to upward review in the retirement age of National Assembly staff into law.
The Bill for an Act to Make Provisions for the Retirement Age of Staff of National Assembly Service and for Other Related Matters, 2024. Other Related Matters(HB.529) was read the third time on Thursday and passed at the Committee of the Whole of the Red Chamber.
The Bill seeks to add five years to the retirement age of the National Assembly staff.
Addressing journalists on Friday, Chairman Alliance for Credible Legislative Conduct, Comrade Clement Afuye, said the Bill would help strengthen the National Assembly as an institution which is pivotal to the success of any democracy.
In a veiled reference to opposition to the Bill, Comrade Afuye appealed to President Bola Tinubu to join hands to defend the nation’s topmost legislative institution from “powerful vested interests and predators.”
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He said: “Considering the enormous work inherent within the Parliamentary system, especially when compared to advanced democracies and the competencies and experience required to perform arduous legislative tasks, adding an extra five years to the tenure of staff of the National Assembly will never exacerbate unemployment situation in the country; it will rather stabilize the parliament, deepen its procedures and practices and increase its capacity to deliver for the good our democracy and country.
“The added years, in our view, would help reduce cost, curb brain drain, retain critical mass of competent and experienced staff and ensure optimum productivity and effectiveness of the National Assembly’s bureaucracy.
“It is based on the strength of the above that we passionately use this medium to call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to append his signature to this Bill.
“Signing the Bill will be an added cap on his reforms efforts and a testament to his progressive and effective leadership style aimed at repositioning the nation’s economy and democracy as a critical member of the global community.”
The group further maintained that “For the avoidance of doubt, the Legislature as the only symbol of democracy in Nigeria is still evolving and trying to develop its practices and procedures compared to the other two Arms of Government.
“Let us recall that since 1979, when Nigeria had its transition from a parliamentary to a presidential system of government, the bureaucratic structure of the National Assembly has since been evolving and struggling to stabilize in the face of competing challenges.
“Another setback was the Intermittent military interference in governance and suppression of the legislature during the reign of the military governments and the National Assembly had to contend with such a debilitating scenario for decades.
“It may interest you to note that until the return of democracy in 1999, and the creation of National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) in year 2000, the National Assembly’s bureaucracy was not fully independent.
“At this juncture, we want to make it very clear that, whatever will make the National Assembly to operate to its fullest statutory capacity in tandem with other parliamentary democracies globally cannot be silenced or truncated by any selfish group or individuals…”
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE