Strong indications have emerged that serious crisis looms in the National Assembly over alleged illegal and lopsided promotion of staff to the detriment of others, just as the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) has been called upon, as a matter of urgency, to address it before it gets out of hand.
Some staff of the National Assembly are protesting against the alleged promotion of of over 150 staff, without recourse to the Public Service rule and carried out in favour of the Northern part of the country, The angry staff are however poised for more organized protest if not remedied.
According to the protesters, some of those promoted, crossed some steps in the Service and were promoted ahead of their contemporaries. This has led to a series of protests by aggrieved staff, who are calling that the action must be reversed by the new Commission which came on stream last year.
The protesting staff are also demanding that Federal Character principles must be followed in the promotion of staff, adding that the alleged illegal promotion was carried out in August, 2017 by Adamu Fika when he was the chairman of NASC and the Action favoured his section of the country.
According to one of the memos addressed to the former Clerk of the National Assembly, Sanni Omolori by Fika, he admitted that the action the Commission took in addressing the issue of proper placements, was against the Public Service rule.
The letter read in part, “In order to redress the situation and also ensure equity, justice and fairness, the Commission has over the past two years, looked into cases presented by various staff and approved the adjustments of the appointment of some officers’ in the National Assembly Service.
“With effect from 24th of August, 2017, the National Assembly Service Commission shall not entertain any requests for proper placement as it doesn’t exist in the Public Service, please.”
It was however gathered that NASC now under Ahmed Amashi may review some of the promotions and placements that were not carried out in consonance with the Public Service rules and if the Commision goes ahead to review the exercise, over 100 staff are expected to be affected.
According to a source in the office of the chairman, the action has become very imperative to guide against what they described as bad blood in the Service and unnecessarily placing those undeserving above their peers.
The source said staff already shortlisted for possible demotion, are scouting for top traditional rulers from the North to prevail on Amashi to halt the move.
The source who noted that the action ought to have been taken months before now, however explained that the pressure is growing by the day to halt move, which many stakeholders in the National Assembly, are rooting for, adding, “If the Commision fails to act, we should expect some consequences. Staff are angry and they’re waiting to see if the Commision will act or otherwise we will begin to see documents flying around.”